


Spectres of the Forgotten

by DanielDeCobray_02



Category: Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft, Naruto, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Gen, Multiple Crossovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-07-25 19:28:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7545046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanielDeCobray_02/pseuds/DanielDeCobray_02
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the final battle of the fourth great shinobi war, Naruto subdued the ten tails but at a great price. He then found himself in the far future where he met the Cullens. Years later he decided to move to Forks along with them. Strange things began to occur which may reveal the truth of what happened in the past so he decided to investigate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Awakening

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the stories.  
PROLOGUE  
The sun has once more shined with the luster of its prime and life has once again begun to sprout from the erstwhile blood drenched and barren soil. The human race, it would seem has weathered and almost forgotten the terrible wars waged by their ancestors in the distant past that threatened their very existence; though by some peculiar twist of fate, has also united them as a single species and triumphed upon the malign and great entities that seek to smother their flame. Or so they say. As time passed by, legends became the accepted truths; paradoxically, as humanity developed and advanced, these so called accepted truths has become legends once more.  
It is intriguing how the age of the shinobi came to its untimely end, almost 10,000 years ago. Naruto Uzumaki, the greatest hero known to this era has vanished without a trace at the conclusion of the fourth great shinobi war. Grand and majestic monuments of him was commissioned and erected in the heart of every hidden village not only to commemorate his valor but to serve as a potent inspiration to all aspiring ninjas. Though people can’t help but wonder what happened to the young shinobi. It was a general conjecture that he, along with the rest of the allied shinobi forces has perished, sacrificing their lives to subdue and seal the ten-tailed beast. However, there are some who believe that he is still alive and will return once more when his people needed him most. The truth, however, is a bitter pill to swallow for he never came back. Not in this timeline at least.  
A mysterious plague then swept the land like lighting from a cloudless sky, killing countless in its wake. Soon war broke between the survivors competing for resources. Cities and settlements were razed and civilization began to decline and rapidly devolve, the earth was painted red from the menagerie of violent deaths. What happened next, however, is even grimmer. An unknown series of cataclysms occurred that shattered and sunken the elemental nations beneath the unforgiving ocean. Entombing all but a few of its denizens in a watery mausoleum.  
The handful of survivors fled to distant lands where they encountered and interacted with the primitive locals. With their knowledge of chakra and more advanced sciences like metallurgy and medicine, they uplifted these primitives and their descendants ruled over them as kings. However, as decades passed, a new problem arose that effectively erased the legacy and all but a few signs of the Elemental nations.  
For reasons unknown, the chakra levels of subsequent generations is gradually dampening and thus their children and their children’s progeny has become weaker overtime. They attempted to rectify this by crafting technological devices meant to amplify their existing chakra and by carefully managing their gene-pool through selective marriages and later on inbreeding but to no avail. Chakra has continuously diminished until it became no longer existent. Furthermore, all knowledge, memory and records of the survivors and their descendants literally ceased to exist as time continued to flow. As if it was the sublime machinations of a great and terrible power who by reasons known only to itself, willed them to fade from existence. All that remained of their legacy are the chakra focusing artifacts they crafted eons ago which was discovered later on by modern archeologists and dismissed as meager works of art or ceremonial contrivances, not knowing its higher purpose.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
“Naruto” A calm and mysterious voice whispered  
Naruto found himself in a dark and eerie environment. The only thing breaking the silence is what seemed to be the sound of dropping water and an unseen flowing river.  
“Who…are you? What is this place? Am I dead?” Naruto asked in bewilderment  
“I am Hagoromo Otsusuki and we are in your dream, within the depths of your subconscious mind” the voice said in an astute tone as he revealed himself to be the sage of six paths.  
“The war---the Jubi! I must……” Naruto said frantically, recollecting his predicament before the dream.  
“It is too late for that my child. Almost ten millennia has passed since then” the sage explained to Naruto which startled the blond shinobi in to disbelief.  
“No that’s impossible! I was there! I just passed out a few minutes--hours at the most that’s all!” Naruto protested in incredulity for what the sage said to him makes no sense. Then memories of the final battle flashed in to his head “The ten tails…..was sealed within me” he muttered as reality finally trickled in.  
“Yes. You are now the jichuriki of the one-eyed god. You must use its power wisely. Though, I’m afraid that what I have told you is no less than the truth” The sage exclaimed in a solemn tone.  
“And you waited this long to tell me that old man? Why?” Naruto inquired in anguish with a sorrow filled voice and a trace of brewing rage.  
“A dark god barred me from this sphere. He is immensely powerful, I was no match. I am only able to form a connection with you just now because he is temporarily distracted for some reason. I fear that it won’t last; even as we speak I can sense that he’s already aware of my presence and soon he will banish me once more. But before he could, I have decided to transfer my remaining power to you. You shall once again be the protector of mankind” Hagoromo said in a calm and philosophical tone as he proceeded to gift Naruto his remaining power.  
The sage brought his hands together and placed them in to Naruto’ forehead then proceeded to transferred his chakra, wisdom and an aspect of his personality to guide the young shinobi in his tasks. Naruto felt a warm sensation as the power of the great sage flowed within him and revitalized his body. A golden shroud of chakra began to engulf him. Then it formed in to a light gold colored coat with a dark colored ‘bodysuit’ that covers of his torso underneath (or that’s what it superficially looks like), reaching down to his arms and to his knuckles, and down his legs, stopping just above his sandals which also changed color. A light colored circle appeared where his seal was placed, as well as golden magatama markings on his collar. Subsequently, truth seeking balls began to form. They were orbs of black malleable chakra the size of a fist and containing all five nature transformations and yin-yang release.  
“Cool” Naruto amusedly exclaimed as he held out his hand and a truth seeking ball hovered above it. “What should I do now?” he then queried the sage, unsure of how he’ll proceed.  
“First you must wake up” The sage resonded with a smile as he slowly fades and vanished.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
(Bimini Island - 1855)  
Faintly glowing, rippled-purple eyes slowly opened. Naruto looked around and although it is pitch black his eyes were perfectly capable of perceiving the environment. He found himself in an underground cavern of glossy obsidian riddled with clusters of hexagonal crystal stalagmites and stalactites, and a series of interconnected subterranean rivers coursed within the natural edifice. The sound of the flowing streams, along with the rhythmic falling drops of water from the crystal stalagmites created a pleasing harmonic melody.  
“Shinra Tensei!” Naruto instinctively exclaimed with a strong commanding voice. A huge shockwave of repelling force emanated from his body and smashed in to the rocks above him like a giant’s hammer. This created a large geyser of dust and rubble that was spotted by a passing steam ship, the Isabel, who was on her route to England after a largely unsuccessful expedition from the southern Americas.  
Naruto emerged from the crater and incoherently limped for some distance before he collapsed from the strain of activating his Rinnengan for the first time and the stupor caused by suddenly unleashing vast amounts of chakra after his millennia long inertness.  
“Sir there is some kind of explosion on the island” A crewman peering on a spy glass yelled  
A man named William Kennedy, who is the head of the said expedition took his spy glass and peered in it seeing an expanding cloud of dust akin to that elicited by barrels of gunpowder that has been lit. He decided to investigate and gave the order. “Captain, turn starboard in to that island and instruct your men to prepare the boats”  
“Aye sir!” The captain concurred and began cascading orders to the rest of his crew.  
The Isabel seemed to bristle with life as her crew was roused to activity. The helmsman turned the ship starboard and headed to the island as ordered. While others of the crew prepared to lower the jollyboats to ferry people once they get in to a sufficient proximity to the island.  
An exploration team was assembled to investigate the mysterious explosion. Leading it was William Kennedy himself and a rather stout Spanish gentleman named Gaspard Villalobos, who’s also the ship’s first mate and second in command. Once the jollyboats hit shore they instantly noticed Naruto lying senseless on the beach.  
“It’s just a young lad, no older than my boy” said by a middle aged crewmen as they approached and got a closer inspection of the shinobi  
“Maybe one of the locals?” a relatively naïve crewman inquired  
“Nay. He doesn’t look like it” The first replied  
“The boy’s features are distinctly Caucasian, and the clothes he’s wearing…..well I never seen the likes of it before. He could be a survivor from a shipwreck; this part of the world is known for its sporadic and unpredictable storms after all.” Gaspard Villalobos mused as he tried to deduce the predicament that befallen the golden haired boy.  
“Bring him to the ship. Let’s save our questions when he wake up” William Kennedy said looking at the unconscious Naruto.  
Naruto was carried in one of the jollyboat and transported back to the Isabel while the rest of the crew stayed on the island to investigate. They found nothing unusual except a fairly large crater, the size of a house.  
“Found anything interesting sir?” The captain greeted William Kennedy as he returned and board the ship  
“Non, save for a depression caused by the earlier explosion we’ve witnessed. What of the boy?”  
“Our guest has regained consciousness though he’s still quite weak, Dr. Newton said he will be fine but would need a few days to regain his strength”  
“Very well” William Kennedy nodded to the captain  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
(Steam Ship Isabel – The Next Day)  
After some hours of rest Kenneddy and Villalobos decided to give their guest a visit  
“How is he doctor?” Villalobos inquired  
“It’s amazing. He shouldn’t even be able to stand at this state but it appears that he has fully recuperated in just a short amount of time.” Dr. Michael Newton, a lanky, blond haired Englishman said astounded at how fast Naruto has recovered. He later migrated to the US and settled in California a few years after the expedition. He is Mike Newton’s great-grandfather.  
“You boy, what is your name?” Kennedy inquired in a calm but stern tone  
Naruto looked at him with a bemused stare and began speaking in the language of the Elemental nations of which non them could understand.  
“Ya’ know I appreciate you taking care of me and all but can someone please tell me where the hell am I?” Naruto said with a bit of bewilderment in his face  
“Did anyone caught any of that?” A perplexed crewman inquired  
“We can’t comprehend a thing he’s saying and apparently he can’t understand our language either” Dr. Newton exclaimed  
“It sounds very much like Japanese” Villalobos speculated, his hand rubbing his chin.  
“I didn’t know you speak the orient” The captain said in amusement  
“Oh I’m quite fluent at it. You see, there’s this beautiful Japanese girl I met in Manila when I was but a young lad serving as a cabin boy for a merchant galleon, several years ago. She taught me a few words and a few more other things if you know what I mean. Villalobos reminisced in a jolly tone that made him and the rest of the crew burst in a roaring belly laugh.  
“Then talk to him” Kennedy instructed the Spaniard with an impassive face.  
So Villalobos did as he was ordered and started speaking in a heavily accented Japanese, asking the boy his name.  
Modern Nihongo is a linguistic evolution of the more archaic language of the Elemental nations and thus Naruto found it to be only partially intelligible but he caught enough words to deduce his enquirer’s question.  
“Naruto” He replied pointing a finger to himself.  
“What did he say” Kennedy queried  
“I think he said his name is Naruto” Villalobos replied, uncertain.  
“Very well then Mr. Naruto, welcome to the Isabel” Kennedy exclaimed, extending his arm for a handshake.  
Though he couldn’t understand the strange man in front of him, Naruto knew that he is extending a gesture of friendship and so he responded. But as soon as their hands made contact, Naruto, through his latent six paths sage power has inadvertently gazed in to the mind of William Kennedy and saw what the latter saw in his lifetime and learned much from it, including the English language.  
“Whoa! What was that?” Naruto said in English as he recovered from the confounding experience.  
“I thought he couldn’t speak English” The captain said more suspicious than confused.  
“I do now” Naruto shrugged dumbfounding everyone. As to how he did it he never told them.  
Days have passed and the crews’ suspicion of the shinobi has eventually quelled. He befriended them and using the knowledge he gained from William Kennedy’s mind, Naruto fabricated a story to satisfy their curiosity. He told them that he was in the service of a merchant ship, acting as a translator. One day, as their ship was on route to Acapulco a violent storm appeared out of nowhere, battering them with violent winds and colossal waves. The last thing he remembered was a large waterspout approaching their vessel, violently reaping its fore-sail and breaking a mast before he felt a debris struck his head and blacked out.  
Everyone who heard his story became pale and felt their blood curdled as the horrific account is nothing short of every seafarer’s nightmare. They pitied Naruto but at the same time felt a huge pride for him as it’s quite rare indeed to see what he saw and live to tell the tale.  
Months have passed and the Isabel reached London. Naruto decided to explore this new world and learn everything he could from it. He bid farewell to the crew of the Isabel and thanked them once more for the kindness they showed him.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-

Years have passed and Naruto learned the existence of curious creatures living in the sewers of London. They look like ordinary men and women, but much paler. They have cold skin, red eyes and fed on the blood of humans to sustain their own damned existence. He decided to observe this cloistered beings and study them and their behavior. It seemed that their reflexes and agility are much faster than what modern humans are able see. They also have sharper and more attuned senses designed to track and predict their prey like apex predators. According to the stories he heard, these undead beings are called vampires; they subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, specifically their blood. When it became clear to Naruto that these vampires were beyond any help and are a threat to the people living above he decided to destroy them as humanely as possible with powerful fire jutsus.  
Curiously, he also discovered that some of these vampires have special abilities like telepathy and lesser element manipulation (though these abilities are inferior and less versatile compared to those possessed by any given jonin or talented chunin). He hypothesized that these rare individuals may have been descended from the shinobis who survived the destruction of the Elemental nations; and the same process that turned them in to undead beings may have also awakened the latent powers of their lineage.  
He became much engrossed studying these creatures for he thought that they would be the key to unlock the elusive mysteries of the past. His quest has led him to travel all over the known world and beheld strange and fascinating things and beings alike. Such of these are the feral werewolves that reminded him so much of the Inuzuka clan, Kiba and Akamaru in particular.  
On one of his travels to Italy he encountered a vampire named Carlisle Cullen who he found interesting for he is unlike the rest of his kind. This vampire prefers to drink animal blood. This is due to his belief that it’s much more humane than drinking the blood of humans, thereby killing them.  
He revealed himself to the Carlisle who found him equally fascinating as well; for the latter never saw the kind of immortality Naruto has. They became good friends and in time Naruto told him the truth about himself and how he acquired his immortality. He told him about how the ten-tails sealed in him supercharged the longevity and regenerative abilities of his Uzumaki lineage to the point of agelessness and immortality. Any damage he sustains (which requires an immensely powerful force) instantly neat up within moments as if it was never inflicted on the first place. He no longer needs to eat nor drink for nourishment due to the fact that he passively absorbs and assimilate nature energy that fuels him, though he does eat food nonetheless for the pleasure of it and because it reminds him of his humanity.  
Years have passed yet again and Carlisle decided to move to the new worlds, feeling that there’s nothing more for him left in Europe and citing the possibilities of a new and more prolific life in the Americas. Soon after, Naruto decided to migrate as well.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
(Late 1800s – Texas)  
It was in the apex of the southern vampire war that Naruto landed on the shores of the United States. He traveled for a while then decided to settle in Pleasanton, a sleepy little community at the time, south of San Antonio. The town is indeed true to its name for he found the weather and the simple folks living there to be no less than pleasant.  
“I can get used to this” he said with a smile on his face while basking in the gentle rays of the autumnal sun.  
He had settled in town for about four years and a half now, and built a cozy and lofty house near what is now known today as Ruby hill. Though he occasionally sends his shadow clones far and wide to investigate. Everybody knows him as the luckiest young prospector on the face of the earth for he always came back in town from his numerous yearlong expeditions with a satchel full of gold. In reality the gold is a product of a Jutsu he developed by combining Earth Element Transformation and Magnet Release Chakra to mystically extract any kind of metal from crude ores and later on he became so proficient at the technique that he was able to extract metal such as gold to its purest form on the very landscape he is standing on.  
Young women would always blush and giggle at the sight of him for he is the most eligible bachelor in town. This is not only in part due to his extraordinary good looks but also because of his affluence. Though people can’t help but wonder why hadn’t he found himself a wife or at the very least doesn’t hire any domestic help; he is a wealthy man after all and frugality isn’t really a mandatory virtue, furthermore his residence is quite sizable and maintaining it would require a servant or two. To all who curiously asked him such questions he just responded that he values his privacy and enjoy living a bachelor’s life.  
One winter night he encountered a group of vampires who killed a local man. Three of them were new-borns and the last one is a blond male wearing a confederate uniform, his skin covered with scars from past battles; though this scars are normally invisible to humans they are his dominant features when viewed by others with supernatural eyesight. Not only did Naruto instantly scrutinized the fact that he is the leader of the group but also discerned the vampire’s somewhat slight hesitation to kill humans.  
As soon as they noticed Naruto, the new-born vampires attacked without hesitation as they thought him as another easy meal. The shinobi then proceeded to efficiently dispatched them all in a split second save for the leader who is now awestricken for he never encountered any creature let alone a human being able to do that.  
“Say, what’s your name soldier?” Naruto said  
“Jasper Whitlock” the vampire responded.  
Naruto found him quite amusing, similar to when he first met Carlisle. To Jasper’s surprise, Naruto did not only spare his life that night but also offered him another option to live. He found this difficult to believe and it confounded him. He retreated back to his coven and never told anyone what happened that night.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
Naruto has lived a peaceful and blissful life in that sleepy town but alas, it’s time to move on. Less than pleasant gossips and rumors about him are quickly spreading and the superstitious townsfolk has made themselves scarce in his presence for they have scrutinized some truth from the malicious whispers; such as the fact that he didn’t look a day older since he first set foot on Pleasanton, more than a decade ago. He decided to sell his estate and move north but before he left, he cast a powerful Genjutsu on the townspeople that made them believe that nothing is amiss.  
He then heard stories of Quileute shape-shifters that can transform in to wolves at will so he went in search of them but ended up slightly disappointed after he found out that the transformation process is some sort of defensive response. This means that their lycanthrope shifting ability could only be initialized by having a vampire present to trigger it on a genetic level, but for generations such creatures has not been seen and the last remaining Quileute elder who have the power to transform is on his deathbed. Interestingly, he found out that once activated they can consciously control their shifting and are aware of their actions while in wolf form unlike werewolves who can only transform at the phase of the full moon and on the process loses their self-awareness in lieu of bloodthirsty feral rage.  
Another 26 years swiftly passed, seemingly like a feather that has fallen from the wings of a soaring falcon. During this interim Naruto has traveled all around the world and studied in the most respected universities and under the most preeminent intellectuals the sciences of archeology, biology and genetics (a relatively new kind of discipline at the time) as well as the contemporary theories of evolution of that period. Though it is not in his character to seek answers in the academe, the wisdom and aspect of Hagoromo Otsusuki embedded on the totality of his personality has discerned it necessary to further his search for answers.  
Unfortunately things took a turn for the worst as his theory regarding the shape-shifters transformation and the special abilities of some vampires has been unfounded. He discovered that these gifts are wrought through evolutionary mutations or may be entirely supernatural in some cases but has no connection to Kekkei Genkai nor Chakra, thus ruling-out the possibility that they are descendants of survivors from the Elemental nations.  
This had depressed and disheartened the shinobi so much and was about to give up on his hopes when he encountered an old friend on one of his travels to Washington. It was Carlisle; they haven’t seen each other for roughly 60 years now. To Naruto’s surprise, Carlisle has some company with him. He introduced the shinobi to Esme, Edward, Rosalie and Emmet; it would seem that all this time he found himself a new family. Interestingly, Jasper, the vampire he encountered and decided to spare in the past is now a member of Carlisle’s coven along with his mate, Alice. Jasper was equally surprised seeing the shinobi again and knowing that he and Carlisle knew each other.  
Naruto was then further flabbergasted when Carlisle suddenly invited him to be a member of his family, which he graciously accepted. Though, he found it a little bit amusing to pose as Carlisle’s adopted son due to the fact that he is technically thousands of years older than him.  
“Naruto Cullen huh? I don’t know. It sounds a little weird ya’ know” Naruto hummed with a stoic face.  
“Well we could always go with any name you see fit old friend” Carlisle chuckled  
“Naruto Uzumaki. I want to use the name my parents gave me to honor the legacy of the elemental nations and so that it would always remind me of my heritage and my quest.” Naruto exclaimed with the will of fire burning in his eyes.  
“It’s settled then. Welcome to the family Naruto Uzumaki.” Carlisle said with a gentle smile  
The shinobi felt elated and his depression was partially appeased from the unexpected serendipity, it reminded him of the nostalgic bliss of having friends and family once more.


	2. A Lucid Dream

Time has continued to flow like a stream and everyone and everything around has aged and withered save for the immortals who remained unchanged and unspoiled by its touch.   
The Cullens made their abode in Alaska for quite a while, alongside with a coven of kindred vegetarian vampires, the Denali Coven. Due to the similarities in diet and philosophy they co-existed peacefully and became great friends and allies to the point that they even considered themselves an extended family of one another. However, due to these parallels and along with their combined numbers, they began to attract the attention of other vampires, the most dangerous ones in particular. The Volturi has become increasingly suspicious of the potential threat they may pose and has issued their concern with a subtle but stern warning. The only thing preventing the predominant coven from swiftly taking action is the healthy fear they developed from witnessing Naruto dispose several of their guards with ease years ago, and his warning that they will suffer the same fate if they ever crossed his path.   
The Cullens nonetheless decided to move back to Forks in order to avoid further conflict. They knew that Ephraim and the rest of his pack are long dead when they moved back. Though, they still chose to honor the treaty they made in the past and stayed away from Quileute lands.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
(Washington - 2010)  
It was drizzling when Bella landed on Port Angeles. The rather gloomy weather gave her a creeping nostalgia of bright-warm Arizona but has already come to terms and said her goodbyes to the sun when she decided to move. She saw Charlie, still in uniform, waiting for her as she got off the plane.  
“He must have just left work.” Bella thought  
In the Olympic peninsula of the state of Washington, under a near constant cover of clouds and rain, there is a small town named Forks, Population 3,120 people. Here is where she’s moving. The drive was fairly lengthy and there was an uncomfortable silence between them. Bella’s eyes were animate, observing the pristine and unspoiled green environment of his new home but her sight never dared venture to the driver’s seat where Charlie is gawkily thinking of a good topic to start a conversation with his daughter.  
“Your hair got longer” Charlie said, finally breaking the awkward silence.  
“I’ve cut it since last you saw me” Bella responded.  
“Well, I guess it grew out again” Charlie said gawking as he continued to drive.  
Finally they’ve arrived. Bella got off from the car, it was freezing but nonetheless she took a moment to gaze at a familiar sight. Charlie’s house hadn’t change at all. It will be her new home, she remembered that she used to spend two weeks there almost every summer, but it has been years.  
She turned back to Charlie who was having a little trouble unloading her suitcase from the car, but finally managed to before she could help him.   
As Bella entered her room the first thing she saw was the purple bed cover. Charlie seemed to notice her daughters’ distraction as she stared quite peculiarly on the plum colored linens.  
“The sales lady picked the uhmm…the bed stuff. You like purple right? Charlie asked, rather uncomfortably.  
“Purple’s cool. Thanks Dad” Bella replied that gave Charlie much relief as he made his way downstairs.  
One of the best things about Charlie is that he doesn’t hover and respected her daughter’s privacy. Bella, being used to her mother’s eccentric perceptiveness saw this as a refreshing novelty. Even though they hardly talk, the two know for a fact that they cared deeply for each other.  
Bella sat down on her bed thinking of the life she left in Arizona for Forks. As nostalgia and glum began to trickle in, she felt a longing for the dry air and warm sunlight she was accustomed to. Suddenly she heard noises and a car blowing its horn outside. Looks like they have some visitors.  
She saw a middle aged man in a wheel chair wearing a hat and was being pushed up the drive by a good looking boy just a couple of years younger than she is. The latter had long-glossy black hair, russet skin and dark eyes that set deep above the high planes of his cheekbones. Though, He still had just a hint of childish roundness left around his chin.  
“Bella you remember Billy Black” Charlie introduced her to the man in the wheelchair.  
“Yeah. You’re looking good” Bella replied with a smile as she shook the hands of Billy.  
“Well, I’m still dancing. Im glad you’re finally here. Charlie here hasn’t shut up about it since you told him you’re coming” Billy wittily said that made Charlie a bit embarrassed about it.  
“Alright, keep exaggerating. I’ll roll you in to the mud” Charlie shrugged  
“After I ram you in to the ankle” Billy bombastically replied that made the two grown men play around boisterously in a mock fight.   
The boy laughed at the two then turned her attention to Bella.  
“Hi I’m Jacob. We used to make mud pies when we’re little” The boy said with a friendly smile as he introduced himself.  
“Right…I remember” Bella replied with a half-smile “Are they always like this?” she then inquired looking at both Billy and Charlie jauntily roughhousing like immature boys.  
“It’s getting worse with old age” Jacob said that made both of them laugh.  
“So, what do you think?” Charlie said as he walked towards them.  
“What?” Bella queried, confused.  
“Your homecoming present” Charlie responded while leaning on a red truck that has been parked in the drive.  
“This?” Bella replied astonished. Her eyes sparkled with joy like that of a little girl.  
“Just bought it from Billy here” Charlie said   
“Yep” Billyseconded  
“I totally rebuilt the engine for you” Jacob supplied  
“Oh my gosh…this is perfect” Bella was more than delighted and has a big smile on her face.  
She was quite excited and decided to take her new ride for a test run. It would seem that the sunless day has as just lighten up and everything at that point was perfect, save for Jacob’s right knee who Bella accidentally hit with the door when she got on the truck.  
“I told you she’ll love it. I’m down with the kids” Billy said with a teen-like swagger.  
“Oh yeah dude. You’re the bomb” Charlie retorted with a deadpan face and in a sarcastic tone  
“Ok, listen. You got to double pump the clutch when you shift, but besides that, you should be good” Jacob enthusiastically instructed Bella with the subtle complexities of her new machine.  
“That’s this one”   
“Yeah, yeah, right there”  
“Alright, so do you want a ride to school or something?” Bella offered in a hopeful tone  
“Oh, I go to school on the reservation” Jacob said. He felt a sorry after seeing her face reformed from extremely happy to a little blue.  
“Right, right, that’s too bad. It would have been nice to know one person” Bella said in a gloomy tone, her face emanating a trace of slight frustration.   
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
It was raining. The landscape was littered with the bodies of slain shinobi. Their blood mixed with the rain water that cascaded from the mountains like a river, painting the landscape in bright gushing crimson. They’ve all sacrificed their lives to give Naruto and Sasuke enough time to seal the rampaging Jubi.   
“Kirin!” Sasuke yelled activating the jutsu. Thunder crackled from the storm clouds above as an immense dragon made of lightning formed. He then guided it to its target, engulfing the ten tails in a bright thunderous flash.   
“Sage Art: Lava Release Rasenshuriken!” Naruto and innumerable of his shadow clones synergized their attack with Sasuke creating hundreds of dilating vortexes of lightning enhanced infernal cyclones that would vaporize an entire city in a blink of an eye.  
It was a spectacular sight. Their combined jutsus shattered half of the mountain range the size of Manhattan and reduced to dust anything within ground zero, creating a multi-mile wide smoldering crater. The beast however, appears relatively unharmed as it emerged still crackling with arcs of lightning and molten rock dripping from its unscathed hide.  
“Now!” Both of the shinobi roared as they fold their hands in to seals and simultaneously slammed their palms in to the beast that activated an extremely powerful fuinjutsu which would seal it forever. The Jubi screeched as the sealing formula spread all over its body and began to enclose and confine the mighty beast.  
“It’s over. We---” Sasuke coldly said but was cut of short when he felt a sharp pain on his chest. The Jubi has traded a final parting shot. One of its tails has pierced his back all the way through his chest like a spear, impaling the Uchiha.  
“Naru--to” Sausuke barely muttered in a weary voice. Blood gushed from his mouth as he collapsed to the ground, the life in his eyes slowly faded and he ceased to be. Though, he died with a smile on his face knowing that he honorably fought side by side, until the very end with whom he considered to be the nearest thing he had to a best friend.   
Naruto was paralyzed with overwhelming grief. Unable to say nor do anything, tears fell from his azure eyes as he saw his childhood friend lay cold in the dirt and shattered rocks. Sasuke’s blood dripped from his wounds in to the hidden leaf crest of the now misshapen forehead protector that he had secretly kept and always carried with him since he defected from Konoha. Naruto then let out a cry of pure and undiluted anguish that echoed and reverberated in to the nearby rock formations like a requiem of melancholy.  
He stared in to the heavens asking for answers. “Why?” is the only word he was able to mutter.   
His glum musing was suddenly distracted by a radiating colossal ball of energy. The sealing has been all but completed; all it needs is a container to be the Jubi’s jinchuriki. The fuinjutsu then latched itself to Naruto due in part from being its caster and the fact that he was the only living being left in the vicinity. The process was profoundly excruciating, like being cut and burned by tens of thousands of red hot knives at the same time. The agonizing ordeal, coupled with the weariness of battle has made Naruto blackout and lose consciousness. But before the light completely left his eyes, he saw a surreal figure perched on a nearby precipice as if it was spectating the events unfold with amusement and curiosity. It has diaphanous wings made from streams of light that fluttered in to the air and is engulfed by a cloak of fiery energy that seemed to make the strange creature shimmer like a quivering bowstring. It’s all that he could remember before darkness overtook him in its pitch black embrace.  
Naruto’s eyes snapped open and found himself in his room. He hadn’t had that dream for a long time now. Thousands of years have passed but the pain still felt like it has just been freshly inflicted.   
He got off from his bed and brooded in a corner for what seemed to be an eternity. Suddenly, a phantasmagoria of the bustling streets of Konoha flashed in his mind. He vividly recalled that one particular day at Ramen Itchiraku: it was a fairly sunny day, they’ve just returned from the land of spring after completing a rather extraordinary mission. Teuchi and Ayame was busy tending with more customers than usual, and the streets were filled with clamor and tumult from the outside parties for the people was celebrating the Hanami festival. He remembered Kakashi Sensei, Sakura, Sasuke and himself slurping ramen and recounting the funny encounters they had from the said assignment. He remembered how happy they were that day, even the aloof and stoic Uchiha occasionally let out a half-suppressed chortle. It was nothing short of pure bliss. But everything has to come to an end. He felt a nostalgic dejection as he remembered when they bid their farewells to each other to retire for the day. He remembered seeing his sensei and friends go and part ways, walking further and further until he can no longer see their silhouettes; while he was left alone in a crossroad from which he can never follow them. What would he not give to relive even just a single hour of that day. But what’s gone is gone and cannot be brought back. The truth is painful, it always is.   
Finally, he regained his senses back. Brushing off his melancholy, Naruto stood up and composed himself.   
“Maybe in time, the truth of what happened to my people will be revealed and if what I saw that day isn’t just a figment my imagination, I will find out” Naruto mused in a hollow voice as he gazed at the star riddled sky from the window of his room.  
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(Forks High School – The Next Day)  
A faded red 1963 Chevy pick-up truck pulled over and parked itself on the school’s parking lot but as soon as it stopped, the vehicle backfired producing a loud popping noise and a puff of black smoke; earning the condescending stares and unkind mocking grin of some students who perceived it to be nothing more than an eyesore.   
Bella got off the truck. She decided to ignore the rustling whispers and just set about her business, evading as much attention as possible. She headed to the reception where she was entertained by Ms. Cope, a gentle plump woman with short grey hair and visible laugh lines on her Face. She handed Bella a list of her class schedules, along with a map of the school and slips for the teachers to sign.  
As she walked past the corridors, on her way to her first period, a young man of Asian descent approached her. He was a cheerful guy and somewhat a bit geeky, Bella thought. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and tie, giving him a semi-corporate look.  
“You’re Isabella Swan the new girl. Hi. I’m Eric, the eyes and ears of this place.” Eric introduced himself in friendly and merry manner. “Uhm anything you need. Tour guide, lunch date, shoulder to cry on?” the overly helpful young man continued.  
“I’m really kind of the more sufferer in silence type.” Bella replied, cordially and with a vague smile.  
“Good headline for your feature. I’m on the paper, and you’re news baby, front page.” Eric said ecstatically and with a big smile on his face.  
“No I’m not. You…Please don’t have any sort of…” Bella awkwardly and stutteringly mumbled in surprise.  
“Chillax. No feature” Eric said in allay before Bella was able to finish her incoherent objection.  
“Okay, thanks” Bella said, more than relieved  
“Cool?” Eric inquired to make sure that any awkwardness between them has been dispelled.  
Bella’s attention was suddenly diverted when she saw a handsome blonde youth, it was Naruto. His unruly and spikey blonde hair was like the intense golden rays of a winter sunrise. He sports a richly tanned skin, which was something of an attractive novelty for her. He also had whisker marks on his face that only sharpened his striking good looks. Though, he seemed to be pensive that day as if in deep thought of something profound and prodigious. Ignoring the pleasantries and niceties of the flushed young women who hovered around him like flies, he continued to stride until he walked passed Bella and Eric.  
“Who’s he?” Bella involuntarily muttered loud enough for Eric to hear her.  
“Oh…him? That’s Naruto” He replied with just enough tremble in his voice to conceal his dejection and trepidation as he beheld the stiff competition.   
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(Gym Class)   
There was a rustle of activity and chattering inside the gym from the myriad of girls playing volleyball and boys playing basketball contra-parallel to each other.   
Bella grunts in awkwardness for she’s not a big fan of volleyball, or any sport for that matter. She was also worried that her God-given clumsiness may hurt or outright kill someone before the period is over.  
“Get it! Get it! Get it!” A girl ecstatically said to her team mates as the ball lobed through their court. Another girl swiftly spiked it up and through the net of the opposing team’s side but was blocked and deflected yet again to theirs.  
“To you!” One of the girls cried out as she reckoned that the ball’s trajectory was heading to Bella’s direction.  
Stumped, Bella deflected the ball with a gawking slap and it flew out of control.  
“Whoa!” bellowed by a flummoxed boy who got hit at the back of his head by the stray volleyball.  
Bella rushed to him and apologized. “I’m sorry. I told them not to let me play”   
“No way. No, no, no. That's... That's... Don't...You're Isabella, right?” The boy said intermittently with a smile on his face as he was further staggered with what he thought to be a fortunate happenstance.   
“Just Bella” She corrected. She found him to be altogether good looking but not her type. He has blond hair and pale blue eyes that perfectly accented his baby face.   
“Yeah. Hey, I'm Mike Newton.” He cheerfully introduced himself in a friendly manner as he extended his arms to Bella.   
“Nice to meet you” Bella said, reciprocating his gesture of friendship by shaking his hands.  
“She got a great spike right?” They were suddenly interrupted by a petite, outgoing girl with straight dark-brown hair and blue eyes.  
“Yeah, it’s…” Mike chuckled, holding the back of his head.  
“I'm Jessica, by the way. Hey, you're from Arizona, right?” She introduced herself, followed by an inquiry.  
“Yeah” Bella responded  
“Aren't people from Arizona supposed to be, like, really tan?” Jessica further queried.  
“Yeah. Maybe that's why they kicked me out.” Bella awkwardly mumbled in a rather quipping response that made Mike and Jessica chuckle on her reply.  
“You’re good” Mike said as he found her statement genuinely amusing.  
“That’s so funny.” Jessica further supplemented but with a rather forced and artificial giggle.  
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(School Cafeteria)  
“Like a masterpiece, you know, we'll have, like, this crazy pyramid fall from the sky, and then you guys can...” Eric was talking to someone when he saw Mike being overly-helpful and uncharacteristically chivalrous.  
“It's my pleasure, Madame” Mike said as he pulled a seat for Bella “Burito my friend” he then offered to the latter.  
“You guys can give each other high fives…” Eric said quickly concluding his current conversation to stave off Mike from being too friendly. “Hey, Mikey! You met my home girl, Bella?”  
“Hey. Oh, your home girl?” Mike responded with a smile. But underneath that smile is a subliminal message telling Eric the word “Mine!”  
“Yeah” Eric responded jovially. Subliminally projecting to Mike his own message; “I saw her first! Back-off dude”  
“Yeah” Mike echoed as if he was telepathically telling Eric; “I don’t care. You back-off”  
Though, the conversation was superficially friendly and pleasant, Mike and Eric subtly locked their eyes like a lion and a tiger trying to intimidate each other in to submission. Out of the blue, Tyler kissed Bella’s cheek, exclaiming “That’s…my girl!” then he pulled Mikes chair causing the latter to stumble on the floor and chase him in exasperation. Making most of the people who saw the spectacle laugh in amusement; others felt a little jealous of Bella.  
“Sorry to mess your game Mike” Tyler childishly said as he was being chased by Mike  
“Oh, my God. It's like first grade all over again. You're the shiny new toy” Jessica said, she wished that she was the epicenter of all this attention.  
But before Bella could reply she saw Angela with a camera aimed at her “Smile” the latter said, followed by a flash.   
“Okay” Bella uncomfortably muttered, overwhelmed from all the unwanted attention.  
“Sorry. I needed a candid for the feature” Angela then said  
“The feature's dead, Angela. Don't bring it up again” Eric chided quite harshly  
“It's okay, I just...” Bella said, trying to defuse the situation but was cut-off.  
“I got your back, baby” Eric said while tapping her shoulder, as if to comfort her and project the impression of a protector.  
“I guess we’ll just run another editorial on teen drinking” Angela said in a somber voice.  
“You know you can always go for….eating disorders” a statement that made Jessica pause and hesitated to swallow another bite “or speedo padding on the swim team” Bella said, trying to comfort Angela, who was visibly hurt by Eric’s reprimand.  
“Actually that’s a good one” Angela lightened up, her eyes exponentially filled with optimism.  
“That’s exactly what I thought….Kirk, right?” Jessica supplied  
“We’re talking Olympic size. There’s no way, he’s so skinny it doesn’t make sense” Jessica said as she described the anatomical paradox.  
“Totally” Angela concurred  
“Yeah”   
As both girls giggled, Bella glanced at her shoulder and saw six inhumanly beautiful people entered the cafeteria, they were so graceful that it seemed like they’re floating.   
Of the four were boys. One was big, muscled like a serious weight lifter and has curly dark hair; another was taller, leaner but still muscular and honey blonde. The third is the golden haired boy she saw earlier that day; and the last was lanky, less bulky with untidy bronze colored hair, he was more boyish than the others save for the third.  
The girls with them are opposites. The tall girl has a long golden hair waving gently behind her back. She has a statuesque physique that made most other girls’ self-esteem recede in her presence. The second girl was pixie like, her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.  
“Who are they?” Bella inquired curiously  
“They’re uhm, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen’s foster kids. They moved down here from Alaska, like, a few years ago.” Jessica said in response to her inquiry.  
“They kinda keep to themselves” Angela further added.  
“Yeah, cause they’re all together…like together-together.” Jessica said under her breath. “The blonde girl, that’s Rosalie and the big dark haired guy, Emmett. They’re like a thing. I’m not even sure that’s legal.  
“Jess, they’re not actually related” Angela said  
“Yeah, but they live together. It’s weird.” Jessica defended her statement. “Okay, the little dark hair girl, she’s Alice. She’s really weird. And uhmm, she’s with Jasper, the blonde one who looks like he’s in pain. Dr. Cullen is like this foster dad, slash, matchmaker.” She further continued.  
“Maybe he’ll adopt me.” Angela said in a dreamy voice.  
“And them? Bella further queried to point out the other two boys.  
That’s Edward, totally gorgeous obviously, but apparently none of the girls here are good enough for him. Like I care, you know?” She laughed awkwardly then snatched a glance at Edward who seemed laughing at something, belying her last statement. “So, yeah…seriously though, don’t waste your time” she told Bella.  
“I wasn’t planning on it” Bella responded.   
Edward then glanced at Bella. His face was riddled with an uncanny expression, like that of an unmet expectation.   
“Oh and the cute blonde guy with him is Naruto. Weird name right? He’s a total hottie though, and so far the most approachable and outgoing of them. But apparently he’s not in a very good mood today.”  
“Maybe all he need is a girlfriend” Angela again said in a dreamy voice, though, this time she was more like supplicating to everything that is holy to be that girl.  
“You wish” Jessica playfully heckled that made both girls giggle like mischievous fairies.  
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“What’s your problem now?” Rosalie scoffed at Naruto. They only talk to each other when they absolutely have to, and whenever they do the conversation is usually fleeting and snappy. Although it may appear that she’s not very fond of the shinobi (and him to her), the truth is they do cared deeply for one another’s well-being like real siblings.  
“Jeez….what’s it to you goldilocks” Naruto retorted sarcastically “Don’t you and papa bear over there have some smooching appointment?” He then continued, it made Emmett chuckle like an amused boy but was immediately chastised by Rosalie’s piercing stare. Naruto was well aware that she’s just looking out for him and this is his way of saying that he’s fine and there’s nothing to worry about.  
“It’s that dream again isn’t it?” Jasper inquired. Though, he was certain that it is indeed the cause of the shinobi’s wistfulness.  
“Yeah. How did you find out? Naruto asked back.  
“We all heard you crying like a little bitch last night” Rosalie said, seizing the perfect opportunity for a riposte.  
“Whatever” Naruto crossed his arm and pouted. “But yeah, it was that dream. The last time I had it was back when Elvis died in the crapper” He was a big fan of Elvis, and he took it quite hard when the king shuffled off his mortal coil while on the throne.  
For them this is the closest thing to a leisurely conversation, and it assuaged their minds from the transitorily unbearable clasp of immortal existence. It reminded them of the happiest and joy filled hours they had in an ocean of misery and melancholy, back when they still live a mortal life.   
“Everything alright there Edward?” Naruto diverged  
“I can’t read her thought” Edward said as he gazed at Bella with a bemused expression on his face.  
“Is that so” Naruto said with curiosity. He then used his more potent chakra induced telepathy to peer in to Bella’s mind but he was unable to breach deep enough in to her psyche and was only able to read superficial and random thoughts. “Interesting” he exclaimed with a light of enthusiasm and hope in his eyes.


	3. A Cold Flame

In a perpetually stormy and constantly shifting nebula like dimensional plane outside of reality, there stood two beings sternly glaring at each other, perusing the slightest weakness of one another to gain the upper-hand in what seemed to be a philosophical debate. One of which was Hagoromo Otsutsuki, the sage of six paths, and the other was a rather strange and eldritch being; he looked like a solid black silhouette of a youth riddled with iridescent starry-like spots akin to that of a cloudless night sky, and was engulfed in a fiery aura of white energy.  
The entity then spoke in an eerie, echoing and cold voice. “The deviations engendered by your intrusion had thrown the natural order in to imbalance that has taken thousands of years of subtle manipulation to rectify.” He said in reference to chakra.  
“The core teachings of Ninshu were meant to connect the spiritual energies of every living being. Uniting nations in to a single people that is able to understand each other without communication and thereby giving them better understanding of themselves, as well as of others.” The sage replied in a calm voice, in defense of his philosophy.   
“Is it really, indeed? I think not….old man” The entity said. Hagoromo could’ve sworn that he saw an ephemeral demonic grin on the formers shadowy and featureless face. “I can see that your senility is only superseded by your arrogance.”  
“Old man? To my understanding you’re far more ancient than I am” the sage riposte with a vague smile before his face turned austere again “Why do you despise humans so much?” He then inquired in a serious tone.   
“On the contrary. I find humans quite interesting….even though they are a worthless greedy lot.” The entity replied.  
“Is that why you destroyed the elemental nations?”  
“I have my reasons.”  
“How your mind works baffles me. What kind of reason there is to kill millions of innocent people? Do you see yourself and your kind too mighty and superior to indifferently ignore the lives of those lower than you and step on them and crush them like insects on the heels of your feet? Do you not have a conscience nor a concept of what’s right or wrong?” The sage firmly retorted in a serious tone, gripping his staff rather tightly.  
“I am beyond duality. I can do no wrong…for I don’t know what it is.” The entity tranquilly spoke once again in the same eerie and echoing voice, shocking the sage from the revelation of the dark god. “What fascinations there are in this planet. Strange mortals with…curious customs. But alas, their lives are fragile and fleeting like falling autumn leaves. And in their paltry, unfortunate existence they desired things, concepts and powers that are not theirs nor could they hope to comprehend. Day and night they endlessly supplicated the heavens for equality. To be as wealthy as their neighbor, as powerful as the lord they serve, to have the means to avenge their ill fates…”   
“So you decided to silence them forever?” Hagoromo said in a contemptuous hollow voice.   
“I granted their egalitarian wish and longing….noble and common, rich and poor, young and old….all are equal in death.” The deity said indifferently as he slowly fade and vanished in to nothingness.  
“He has strange notions of kindness. But he was made so and does not know any better. His ways are indeed peculiar from a mortal’s point of view.” Hagoromo pondered mirthlessly from the yet again disturbing revelation. “Naruto, I leave everything to you now…my son” The sage said with a tiny spark of hope in his heart as he was left alone in that otherworldly dimensional prison.  
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(Port Angeles)  
A ramen bar recently opened in Port Angeles and Naruto was ecstatic for it’s the only one in town. He quickly made a shadow clone to be his replacement in school and Hiraishin himself to Washington St., where it was located. His face lit up with joy as he ingress and beheld the glorious magnificence of the establishment.   
“One miso ramen with extra katsudon please!” Naruto enthusiastically ordered.  
The chef gladly complied and assembled the ramen. Judiciously preparing the noodles and flawlessly merging it with the hearty miso broth like he was uniting yin and yang with immaculate artistry. He then added the toppings with a gentle and artful precision; scallions, nori, menma, halved onsen tamago, and the crowning piece, a perfectly golden sliced katsudon which made Naruto drool; and the shinobi drooled some more when the masterfully completed dish was served in front of him.   
“It’s so beautiful.” Naruto tearfully said as he inhaled deeply, savoring its aroma, which was heavenly.  
His senses run amok with the first slurp, his neurons fired wildly from the delectable euphoria that his taste buds were basking on. “Oh ramen, where have you been all my life” Naruto thought in blissful exaltation as he continued to slurp and gulp. It didn’t take long for him to finish the fairly large bowl and ordered for seconds.   
“You sure love ramen.” A gentle voice said that he thought was familiar. The image of Hinata Hyuga flashed on his mind. He knew that Hinata was long gone but for some peculiar reason he felt her presence as if she’s just next to him.   
Naruto turned his gaze to the voice’s origin and saw a young woman giving him a half smile. She has perfect copper skin and attractive long eye lashes that perfectly complimented her exotic beauty.   
“You come here often miss…” he said, leaving the sentence unfinished as if silently asking for the young woman’s name.   
But before she could formally introduce herself, a guy with long black hair and a serious face that Naruto easily identified as a member of the Quileute tribe suddenly grabbed her arms. “Leah, let’s go.” the man said as he glared darkly at the shinobi before the two stormed out.  
“Sam what’s wrong with you?” She inquired quite irate, confounded by his behavior.  
“Don’t you know who that guy is?” Sam Uley said in a grim and harsh tone.  
“No. You pulled me away before he could introduce himself. Which, by the way you have nothing to be jealous about.” Leah said sarcastically, trying to defuse what she thought to be Sam’s unfounded jealousy.  
“He’s with the Cullen’s.” Sam said in a whisper like but stern voice as his eyes narrowed.  
“A cold one? But that’s impossible I actually saw him eat food.” Leah stutteringly said in bewilderment.  
“He’s the most dangerous of them. Look, just promise me you won’t have anything to do with that…whatever he is.” Sam chided, harsher and more serious than before with blazing eyes that compelled her to comply.   
Unknown to them, a cloaked shadow clone surreptitiously eavesdropped on their conversation. It then dispelled and relayed the information it learned to Naruto. He conjured the clone just before the two left the premises to ensure that Leah would be fine. He was both captivated and perplexed by the nostalgic and strangely difficult to comprehend sentiment that she has evoked in him.  
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(Biology Class)  
Bella entered the classroom accompanied by Angela. Next to the center aisle, she recognized Edward by his unusual hair. As she walked to the teacher, Mr. Molina, to introduce herself and have her slip signed, the fan blew behind her. For some reason Edward went rigid on his seat, he looked appalled and clutched his hand firmly on his nose like he just caught a lungful of the most putrid and reviling stench the collective cesspools of the planet was able to brew. And as if things couldn’t go any worse, Mr. Molina assigned Bella to sit right next to the grimaced young man. She was bewildered and perplexed by the antagonistic glare that he was giving her.   
Edward didn’t looked up as Bella set her things on the table and took her seat, though, the latter saw his posture change from the corner of her eye. He was leaning away from her, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair as if the offensive reek that assaulted him earlier just got more overpowering. Inconspicuously, Bella sniffed her hair. It smelled like strawberries, the smell of her favorite shampoo.   
Bella let her hair fall on her shoulder, making a dark curtain between them. She tried to pay more attention to the teacher. Unfortunately, the lecture was about cellular anatomy, something she already tackled in her old high school, back in Arizona. Nonetheless she took notes diligently, always looking down.   
Oddly, she couldn’t help but peek occasionally at the strange boy next to her. During the entirety of the class he seemed to be in pain and never relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far as possible. Both of them felt that the particular class appeared to drag longer than the others and the discomfort it elicited seemed like siting on hot cinders. Bella peeked one more time at Edward and regretted it. His charcoal black eyes were glaring at her, full of revulsion.  
“If looks could kill.” Bella thought, uncomfortably.  
As the bell ranged, Edward rose fluidly and was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat. Bella sat frozen, staring blankly after him. She was puzzled and felt ire. She then slowly gathered her things, blocking the anger that filled her, fearing that her eyes would tear up. For some reason her temper was hardwired to her tear ducts and she usually cries when she’s angry, with humiliating and less than pleasant tendency.  
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Later that day, as Bella walked in to the office to hand over the signed slips back to Miss Cope, she saw someone that almost made her turn around and walk back out. It was Edward Cullen. He stood at the desk and apparently didn’t notice her come in. He was arguing with the receptionist to trade his Biology for another class of any other time.  
“There must be something else. Physics, Bio-chem….” Edward said in a low, attractive voice.  
“I’m sorry but every class is full” Ms. Cope explained to Edward. “Just a minute dear.” She then said as she saw Bella enter the office. Turning her attention back to Edward, she continued “I’m afraid you have to stay in Biology.”  
“Alright……I just have to endure it.” Edward said, then hastily walked out the door without looking at Bella.  
Bella meekly approached the receptionist’s desk and handed her the signed slips.  
“How did your first day go dear?” Ms. Cope asked maternally.  
“Fine” Bella replied in a timid voice. It was a lie, and it’s either she not a very good liar or Miss Cope is just sharply perceptive for the latter didn’t look too convinced.  
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(Carver Café)  
Whenever Bella isn’t cooking; Charlie and she goes to the particular diner for their meal.  
“I can’t believe how much you’ve grown. And so gorgeous” Said Cora, while she’s serving Bella a plate of fries and garden burger. She’s Charlie’s friend and works there as a waitress.  
Suddenly, a tall, middle aged and balding man walked over. “Hey Bella. You remember me?” he said keenly.  
Bella peered at the man with a bemused face and cordially beamed at him a vague smile. He looked familiar but she can’t particularly recognize him.  
“I played Santa one year.” The man said with much enthusiasm.   
“Yeah, Waylon. She did not have a Christmas here since she was four.” Charlie reminded the man.  
“I bet I made an impression an impression of it didn’t I?” Waylon said, hopeful that he indeed made an impression.  
“You always do.” Charlie wittily replied  
“But crack Santa.” Cora remarked that made them all smirk.  
“Hey, kids loved those little bottles though.” Waylon said referring to the tiny bottles he handed as Christmas gifts to children whenever he plays Santa Clause every year.  
“Alright, let the girl eat her garden burger Waylon.” Cora said as he genially dismissed him. “As soon as you’re done I will bring you your favorite. Berry cobbler, remember? You’re dad still haves it….every Thursday.   
“Thank you. It would be great.” Bella said, extending her appreciation to the nice lady.  
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It wasn’t raining the next day but the clouds were thick and opaque. Bella stood at the school’s parking lot, waiting for Edward. She decided to confront him and demand to know what his problem is. But he never showed.   
The day after that, another no show. More days past and Bella can’t help but feel a nagging suspicion that he wasn’t there because of her. “It’s ridiculous and egotistical to think that I can affect someone that strongly. It’s impossible” Bella thought, trying to convince herself repeatedly but at the back of her head she couldn’t stop worrying that it is true.  
The week passed uneventful and Bella’s first weekend at Forks went without incident.   
Then comes Monday. As Bella was walking down the driveway of their house towards her truck. She accidentally slipped from the slippery frozen concrete and landed on her bottom. Prompting Charlie to rush over and help her stand.  
“You alright?” Charlie inquired as he helped her daughter stand.  
“Yeah I’m good. Ice doesn’t really help being coordinated.” Bella replied  
“Yeah. That’s why I had new tires put on the truck. Old ones are getting pretty bald.” He said, inspecting the new tires, slightly kicking one just to make sure. “Well, I would probably be late for dinner. I gotta head down to Mason County. Security guard at the Grisham Mill got killed by some kind of animal.”   
“An animal?” Bella inquired, slightly bemused.  
“You're not in Phoenix anymore, Bells. Anyway, I figured I'd lend a hand.”  
“Be careful.”  
“Always am.”  
“And thanks for the tires” Bella said, smiling  
“Yeah” Charlie responded before he got on his cruiser.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
“Prom Committee is a chick thing, but I gotta cover it for the paper anyway, and they need a guy to help choose the music, so I need your play list. Hey, listen, I was wondering, did you have a date to...” Eric chatted, accompanying Bella to Biology class and was about to ask her to the prom when they were suddenly interrupted by Mike.  
“What's up, Arizona? Huh? How you liking the rain, girl? Better get used to it, girl.” Mike genially said, playfully flapping his rain drenched hat atop of Bella in jest.  
“Yeah, Mike, hey, you're real cute, man.” Eric sarcastically said in frustration.  
“Oh, I know...that was really awesome.” Mike said in an innocent tone, pretending that he didn’t purposely interrupted their conversation at the point where Eric was about to ask Bella to prom.  
“Why you shooting down my game? Let a playa play.” Eric continued, seeing passed through Mike’s stratagem.  
“Yeah, okay. What you playing at, T-Ball?” Mike retorted, amused.   
As the two continued to bicker, Bella walked to her seat and saw Edward, who has decided to finally end his self-imposed exile and comeback to school.   
His skin was less pale, the circles under his eyes are much less noticeable and there was something more, Bella pondered, staring, trying to isolate the change. But she did so as cautiously as possible, out of fear of receiving one of his antagonistic glares yet again.  
“There goes my good day.” Bella thought as she sat next to him.  
She was flummoxed however, when Edward spoke to her in a gentle voice.  
“Hello…I’m sorry I hadn’t had the chance to introduce myself last week. I’m Edward Cullen. You’re Bella?” He said in a serene and almost musical voice.  
“Y…yess” Bella replied, still astonished from the unexpected surprise. She then heard Mr. Molina saying something and focused her attention to the teacher.   
“Onion root tip cells, that's what's on your slides right now. Okay? So, separate and label them into the phases of mitosis, and the first partners that get it right are gon’na win the Golden Onion.” The teacher said, holding ‘the prize’ that made the entire room rustle from the student’s chattering and harmless catcalling.  
“Ladies first.” Edward slid the microscope to Bella.  
“You were gone.” Bella seized the perfect time for an inquiry.  
“Yeah. I was out of town for a couple of days. Personal reasons.” Edward awkwardly replied as Bella was peering on the microscope, he then finished his sentence with a rather nervous smirk.  
“Prophase” Bella said with regards to the specimen she just viewed under the microscope.  
“Do you mind if I look?” Edward inquired in a gentle voice. “It’s prophase” He then said, concurring with Bella’s earlier assessment.  
“Like I said”  
“So are you enjoying the rain?” Edward said beaming, deviating the topic of conversation.  
Bella anxiously smirked “What? You're asking me about the weather?” she said in response to the Victorian question.   
“Yeah, I...I guess I am.” Edward said with a confused expression on his face.  
Well, I don't really like the rain. Any cold, wet thing, I don't really...What? Bella said that made Edward smirk as if he found something amusing.   
“What?” Bella inquired, curious of his strange reaction.  
“Nothing” Edward said with still traces of amusement in his voice. He then peered in to the microscope “It's anaphase”   
You mind if I check?  
“Sure”  
“Anaphase” Bella echoed in agreement to Edward.  
“Like I said.” Edward implied with a smile that made Bella gently bit her lip. “If you hate the cold and the rain so much, why'd you move to the wettest place in the continental US? He then asked the question out of curiosity.  
“It's complicated.” Bella replied  
“I’m sure I can keep up.”   
“My mom remarried, and...” Bella began in sad voice. She found it peculiarly difficult to word the thoughts she wanted to express.  
“So you don't like the guy, or...” Edward said, more than an assumption than a guess as he attempted to deduce the contents of her words.  
“No, that's not...Phil's really nice” Bella responded. She stared at Edward’s eyes to closely scrutinize that they indeed changed color from charcoal black to golden amber.  
“It's metaphase. You want to check it?” Edward then said after examining the third slide in to the microscope.  
“I believe you.” Bella replied, mesmerized.  
Since they’re the first pair to complete the task, Mr. Molina awarded them the golden onion. Even as the class ended they found themselves still speaking to each other in the hallway. Edward was strangely chatty that day, he was genuinely curious about Bella. Usually, the vampire just telepathically read the information he wanted from anyone to obtain it. There are only two persons who are an exception. First was Naruto who can shield his mind from him, and the Second is Bella who doesn’t register any thought.  
Hey, did you get contacts? Bella finally inquired in curiosity with regards to the peculiar change of Edward’s eye color.  
“No”  
“Your eyes were black the last time I saw you, and now they're, like, golden brown.”  
“Yeah, I know, it's the...It's the fluorescents” Edward struggled to fabricate a pretense as he was caught off guard by the question. He then decided to storm out, living Bella mystified.  
As Bella head to his truck in the school’s parking lot she saw Edward standing near his shiny silver Volvo. He was talking to Naruto or rather, the latter was telling him something interesting but his attention was focused on her. Naruto seemed to notice Edward’s distraction and gazed upon Bella’s direction. To her surprise the shinobi flashed a dazzling white friendly smile and waved at her. He’s no less gorgeous than his sibling, she thought. She then saw Naruto said something to Edward that made the latter anxious. Bella didn’t particularly caught what he said but it would seem that the golden haired boy is teasing his bronze haired sibling.   
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
“You do realize that I couldn’t really relate with that kind of topic right?” Edward said with a deadpan expression on his face.  
“I know you have your ‘special diet’ and all…but at least let me tell you the artistic principles of ramen…….” The shinobi said with fiery fervor but noticed that Edward isn’t really listening and was rather distracted, staring at someone. He instantly traced his line of sight and saw Bella. “She’s kinda cute. You have good taste in women.” He said to him.  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Edward said anxiously  
Naruto then cheekily grinned, his face looked like that of a sly fox “So that’s where you‘ve been up to every time you leave the house this past few nights. You sneak in to her room didn’t you? It’s a little bit creepy if you ask me but in this day and age ya’ kno…….”   
“Shut up” Edward said under his breath. If it isn’t for the fact that he’s a vampire he would’ve blushed red like a tomato from the embarrassment.  
“Oh don’t be too modest Edward….I can’t quite believe it. Our little Eddie-boy…is now all grown up. I’m so proud” Naruto said in a fashion similar to how Esme speak. Alice giggled with amusement and even the usually stoic and composed Jasper cannot help himself but laugh; and if the rest of the Cullen’s were only there they would have a good chuckle from it too, save for Edward of course, who at the moment looks kind of irritated.   
“Stop talking please…..thank you.” Edward said, finally able to compose himself after being bombarded with embarrassing quips by his golden haired foster brother.  
“Okay…okay…I’m sorry. I behaved immaturely and I apologize.” Naruto said as he wiped the wisecracking tears of joy from his eye. “Though, if you’ll indulge me, I wanted to ask you a favor.” He then said in a deathly serious tone, his face turned from jolly to grim.  
“What?” Edward inquired. His voice was partially quivering from uneasiness. The last time he saw Naruto that serious was back when he dispatched four Volturi guards so brutally that it made Aro, and Caius look away, trembling in fear.  
“Give me five little pimp!” Naruto cheekily said in a rather high-pitched voice, raising his right hand for a high five while laughing like an insane person that deeply annoyed Edward and left the vampire fuming in exasperation.  
Edward was about to walk out from the wisecracking blonde when he saw an out of control van about to crush Bella. There was no time to think about consequences, his instincts outpaced his ratiocinative faculties.   
Bella was startled when suddenly she heard a loud horn and saw a speeding dark blue van with Tyler in it. He tried to avoid a reversing car but his van went out of control and was sent screeching on a collision course with its side hitting Bella’s truck, and she was standing amidst the two steel machines that was inexorably about to collide with one another.  
Bella’s entire life flashed before her eyes but before she could close them out of fear, she felt that someone pushed her out of the way. She then heard the shattering crunch of the van folding around the truck bed and felt an overwhelming fear.  
Darkness overtook her. She seemed to pass out for a second from what she thought to be her demise. Curiously, as she slowly returned to her senses, she realized that Edward’s left arm was around her waist and his right arm held out to stop the van, crushing its side. His hand left a noticeable dent on the van’s door as the vehicle impacted it. Bella gazed at his rescuer and he looked back, their eyes locked for a moment but he quickly severed it and left casually like nothing happened.   
It was absolutely silent for one long second before the screaming began. In an abrupt bedlam, Bella could hear more than one person shouting her name as other students rush to her aid.   
“Dial 911” A girl frantically cried out.  
“I already called. They're gon’na send somebody over soon.” A boy holding his phone exclaimed.  
“Bella I’m sorry. I panicked…” Tyler apologized in earnest with a weak voice and seemingly about to pass out as he apparently received more injuries than her, with blood gushing from his forehead.  
Meanwhile, on the other side of the parking lot; Alice and Jasper watched with a hard expression on their faces from the stunt Edward just pulled.   
“Rosalie is going to kill him” Alice mumbled. She could already see Rosalie’s outraged reaction, coupled with some harsh scolding for what he did could elicit the wrath of the Volturi.  
Naruto, however, remained staid and calm. He then formed a seal of confrontation with his right hand and cast a wide area effect genjutsu that altered the perceptions of those who witnessed the accident. “You did the right thing” he then said to Edward as he approached them back.


	4. The Morning Star

As soon as Charlie was informed about the accident he immediately hopped to his cruiser and drove faster than he ever did in his life, breaking dozens of traffic rules in frantic.  
Arriving at the hospital and at the emergency room he saw Tyler, whose head was wrapped in blood-stained bandages. His heart almost stopped, as he could only surmise the terrible injuries his daughter might have suffered. To his relief, Bella seemed to be fine and was apparently unharmed.  
“Bella. You okay? “ Charlie said, deeply concerned. He then turned to Tyler with a straight face “You and I are gon’na talk.”  
“I'm fine, Dad. Calm down.” Bella responded, trying to defuse the situation.  
“I'm sorry, Bella. I tried to stop.” Tyler said, anxiously.  
“I know. It's okay.” Bella reassured him but the guilt in his face wasn’t fully assuaged.  
“No. It sure as hell is not okay.” Charlie reprimanded in a stern tone that made Tyler looked down and remorsefully contemplate his mistake.  
“Dad, it wasn't his fault.”  
“You could've been killed. You understand that?”  
“Yes. But I wasn't, so...”  
Charlie once again glared at Tyler “You can kiss your license goodbye.”  
“I heard the chief's daughter was here.” Suddenly a doctor walked around the corner and Bella’s mouth fell open. He was young, blonde and more handsome than any movie star she had ever seen. From Charlie’s description, this has to be Edward’s father.  
“Dr. Cullen” Charlie greeted, confirming Bella’s speculation.  
“Charlie” Carlisle greeted back, giving Charlie a friendly tap in the back.  
“I've got this one, Jackie…Isabella.” Carlisle said in a gentle voice as he took Bella’s chart from the nurse.  
“Bella” She corrected him.  
“Well, Bella…looks like you took quite a spill. How do you feel?” He then queried.  
“Good” Bella responded.  
“Look here.” Carlisle said as he flashed a torch on each of Bella’s eyes. “You might experience some post-traumatic stress or disorientation, but your vitals look good. No signs of any head trauma. I think you'll be just fine.” He then continued that made Charlie sigh in relief from hearing it.  
“I'm so sorry, Bella. I'm really...” Tyler muttered remorsefully but was cut-off when Charlie abruptly closed the cubicle curtain between them, out of exasperation.  
“You know, it would've been a whole lot worse if Edward wasn't there. He knocked me out of the way.” Bella said as trickle by trickle her memory of the incident slowly came back.  
“Edward? Your boy?” Charlie inquired, looking at Carlisle.  
“Yeah, it was amazing. I mean, he got to me so fast. He was nowhere near me.” Bella answered his question for him.  
“Sounds like you were very lucky.” Carlisle responded in a rather anxious voice and vague smile. He was bewildered for Bella remembered what happened quite clearly in spite of Naruto’s genjutsu that was designed to erase her recollection of the accident and replace it with a fabricated memory.  
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“I got to go sign some paperwork. You should...You should probably call your mom” Charlie said in an awkward voice.  
“Did you tell her?” Bella asked, which Charlie responded with an awkward facial expression, implying that he has no choice but to tell Renée what happened. “She's probably just freaking out.” she then muttered.”  
Bella pulled her phone and walked a few steps away from Charlie to make a phone call to her mother - who is probably delirious by now from the unpleasant news - when she saw Carlisle, Edward, Naruto and Rosalie talking to each other in a serious tone and in low and rustling voices.  
“Fifteen kids that saw what happened.” Rosalie said lividly.  
“What was I supposed to do, then? Let her die?” Edward responded in defense of her action.  
“Don’t worry about them. They saw what I wanted them to see. It’s Bella I’m stumped about. I used an even stronger jutsu on her just to make sure but she just shrugged it off in just less than an hour.” Naruto said in a ponderous voice.  
“This isn't just about you. It's about all of us.” Rosalie scowled at Edward, ignoring Naruto’s statement.  
“I think we should take this in my office.” Carlisle said as they saw Bella standing in a corner, ten feet away from them.  
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Bella awkwardly said to Edward. Naruto gave her a vague smile, while Rosalie scowled at her.  
“Rosalie. Naruto.” Carlisle gently said, evoking privacy for Edward and Bella.  
“What?” Edward asked, sounding annoyed and his jaws clenched.  
“How did you get over to me so fast?” Bella inquired. His unfriendliness intimidated her prompting her words to come with less severity than she originally intended to.  
“I was standing right next to you, Bella”  
“No. You were next to your car, across the lot.”  
“No, I wasn't.” Edward retorted indifferently, followed by a soft laugh that Bella felt like a mockery.  
“Yes, you were.” Bella pushed firmly.  
“Bella, you're... You hit your head. I think you're confused.” Edward said in a cutting tone.  
“I know what I saw.” Bella’s temper flared as she was staring defiantly at him.  
“And what exactly was that?” Edward snapped.  
“You...You stopped the van. You pushed it away with your hand.” Bella retorted. She realized how crazy it sounds that she couldn’t continue. She was so mad that she could feel the tears coming and tried to force them back by grinding her teeth together.  
“Well, nobody's gonna believe you, so...” Edward responded. He was staring at her incredulously; his face was serious and defensive.  
“I wasn't gonna tell anybody. I just need to know the truth.”  
“Can't you just thank me and get over it?”  
“Thank you.”  
“You're not gonna let this go, are you?”  
“No.”  
“Well, then I hope you enjoy disappointment.” Edward said scowling at her and walked out.  
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(Biology Field Trip)  
“I need everyone’s permission slip” Mr. Molina said as he tasked a student to collect them.  
Meanwhile, Bella was beside her truck. Her eyes wondered the entire parking lot, deeply contemplating if what she saw that day was indeed true or just a hallucination stimulated by trauma. Her gaze fell to the dent on his truck then to Edward who was walking along with Alice and Jasper.  
“Hey, look at you….your alive!” Mike, who suddenly appeared in the background out of nowhere said in a silly voice, trying to be cute.  
“Yeah. I know, false alarm I guess” Bella said with a vague smile.  
“Uhmm yeah…I wanted to ask you, if..if..you know, it’s like a month away but uhh…would you..go to..the prom, with me.” Mike said incoherently, with a nervous smile on his face, hoping that Bella would say yes.  
Bella wasn’t really paying attention to him as her concentration was focused on Edward behind him, who for some reason looked amused at something.  
“So what do you think?” Mike said that caught Bella’s attention back.  
“About what?” Bella asked  
“You want to go…to prom..with..me?” Mike said with awkward intervals in his voice followed by nervous smirks on each lacunae, his pale blue eyes looking at her like a puppy dog.  
“Oh..prom..dancing, not such a good idea for me. I have something on that weekend anyway..Im going to Jacksonville that weekend” Bella then said in a slow and measured voice, choosing her words carefully as not to offend him. Meanwhile, he caught a gaze on Edward whose grin on his face just widened as if he heard every last bit of their conversation.  
“You cannot go another weekend?” Mike asked. A trace of melancholy was audible in his voice but still hoping that Bella would be her date.  
“Nonrefundable ticket” Bella said that visibly saddened Mike but accepted her decision respectfully, nonetheless. She felt sorry for him. “You should ask Jessica. I know she wants to go with you.” She then said that made Mike try to smile.  
“Hey guys. We got to go. We got to go. Green is what? Good… let’s go!” Mr. Molina called them in a cheery and encouraging voice.  
“You’re so mean.” Naruto, with a blank expression on his face, said to Edward whose smile is now bigger than ever.  
“What? It’s funny.” Edward replied that made Naruto shook his head.  
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(Greenhouse)  
“Egg shells, carrot top…compost is cool!” Mr. Molina said. Apparently he enjoyed the tour a little bit too much than most of the students. “Now, Im gon’na make a steaming cup of compost tea” he said ecstatically but was distraught when he saw Tyler and Mike took turns sipping it.  
“What’s in Jacksonville?” Edward curiously asked Bella out of the blue.  
Bella was surprised by the question and a bit irritated at the thought that Edward was eavesdropping during her conversation with Mike. “How did you know about that?” Bella asked in a tone which sounded more like an implication than an inquiry.  
“You didn’t answer my question.”  
“Well, you didn’t answer any of mine so…. You didn’t even say hi to me.”  
“Hi” Edward cumbersomely said that made Bella roll her eyes.  
“Are you gon’na tell me how you stopped the van?”  
“Yeah, I had an adrenaline rush. It’s very common. You can google it.”  
“Floridians…that’s what in Jacksonville.” Bella wittily said. She then nearly tripped but was caught by Edward.  
“Would you at least watch where you walk” Edward said in angrily that made Bella walk away. “Look, I’m sorry if I’m being rude all the time it’s just. I think it’s the best way.” He then said before she could traverse any further distance.  
Before she could reply Jessica came and excitedly told Bella how Mike asked her to the prom; Edward on the other hand, walked out swiftly and disappeared in the crowd of students in front of them.  
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(Biology Class – The Next Day)  
Eric walked Bella to Biology class as usual, constantly chatting to the latter in a genial manner as they stride; asking how’s her day and if she’s feeling much better since the accident. He also mentioned to Bella that Mr. Molina was out of town for an urgent business and a substitute teacher will have to fill in for a week.  
As Bella entered the room she was surprised and a bit crestfallen when she saw Edward no longer sitting where he previously sat but decided to move a few rows behind. There is no question that he’s now deliberately avoiding her.  
“What is his problem?” Bella thought, more irked than ever. She was puzzled and quite deep in her thoughts as to why Edward is acting in such a galling manner. She barely noticed the substitute teacher come in nor did she pay particular attention on the lecture.  
Bella finally had enough and decided to confront him once and for all. She turned to Edward with a straight face, ready to demand an explanation.  
Suddenly all noise died out and time itself seemed to stop as the room was filled with an eerie silence. Bella turned from Edward as curiosity compelled her to peruse the sudden stillness but her subsequent facial expression melded with the singular reaction of everyone in the room; the menagerie of flabbergasted girls whose jaws were completely agape and even the teacher was blushing red as they saw an extremely handsome young man standing at the threshold of the classroom door.  
A single glance and he could well be mistaken for an A-lister male model; wearing a simple but fashionable grey challenger henley, faded designer jeans and just slightly blue suede shoes. He is quite tall, standing at about 6’2, apparently has a lean but well-built body. Has a medium length, glossy and slightly wavy golden-brown hair that gives him a casual and groomed but undone look. He also sports a silky, flawless fair skin complexion and celestial facial aesthetics that could challenge and effortlessly subdue the definition of perfection.  
But his most distinguishing feature are those strikingly beautiful and mesmerizing iridescent electric blue eyes that somewhat look purple when viewed in the right light. The pair of hypnotic orbs are so enthralling that gazing upon them feels like being removed from the mundane existence and be set adrift in to a sea of astral splendour and soul pacifying tranquillity.  
“Can I help you?” The substitute teacher, a petite Latina looking lady broke the silence.  
“I apologize for the intrusion miss. I’m a new student. The nice lady from the office said I should give this to you and have it signed.” The young man said politely with a pleasant voice and in a cultured accent while handing the slip to the teacher.  
“Okay….Mr. Alexander Storm…I’m Ms. Rodriguez your substitute Biology teacher. By the way can we just call you Alex? Alexander seems so…archaic.” The teacher said with a subtle hint of jest after reading the slip.  
“Sure thing.” The young man cheerfully replied.  
“Ok then Alex. Please help yourself to a vacant seat”  
Alex nodded before he sat down on an available seat that happens to be adjacent to Bella. The young man smiled in greeting to his flushed seatmate which was reciprocated with a nod and vague smile before she awkwardly looked away. Though Bella can’t help but glimpse at him every now and then.  
“He’s so beautiful.” Bella thought.  
While Edward behind them was giving the young man a rather suspicious glare. Not because he felt jealousy of any kind (ok maybe a little) but the very presence of their new classmate is giving him an uncanny and chilling sensation.  
He tried to read him but quickly withdraw in painful regret. Unlike Bella’s wall like mind, which was quiet and doesn’t register any thought, or Naruto who could block his more profound thoughts from being read; this guy has some sort of mental barrier Edward has never seen before. His mind is like a hazy labyrinth full of unfathomable and unseen perils that would easily claim and shatter the vampire’s sanity if he would delve in too deep.  
“Who is this guy?” Edward thought  
A definitely curious ‘gift’ that warrants a more profound investigation for later. The bell rang and first period was over.  
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(School Cafeteria)  
A few periods thereafter, the bell rang yet again and its lunch. The cafeteria was bustling with activity. Students eating and socializing with their friends; jocks bragging on how awesome their game was last season; girls churning out the latest gossip; and geeks talking about the myriad objects of their fancy.  
Alex walked in, making more than a few heads turn “Pretty much your run of the mill school cafeteria I suppose.” He surmised as he assembled food in his tray.  
“Hey Alex over here!” Yelled Eric who he met at Spanish class earlier. Jessica and Angela blushed as they saw the fine-looking young man approached their table.  
“Eric my good man, what’s up!” Alex jovially greeted fist bumping with Eric.  
“Yo’ by the way this is Mike, Tyler, Jessica, Angela and new arrival is my home girl Isabella.” Eric introduced his friends who Alex nodded at each.  
“Just Bella” The pale young woman corrected as she placed her bag on a chair.  
“So what brings you to Forks?” Mike inquired while crunching on an apple.  
“Well it’s kind of complicated. You see I’m originally from Seattle then we moved to my father’s estate in Cardiff when I was seven. When my parents…passed away from a car accident last year I decided to move somewhere more equable.” Alex said with a glimpse of solitude in his face.  
“I’m sorry man.” Mike sadly muttered.  
“Awww you poor thing.” Angela and Jessica almost simultaneously exclaimed.  
Eric, Tyler and Bella were silent though they were very sympathetic to his plight.  
“It’s quite alright, though I would suggest we move on to a less sombre topic.” Alex said trying to gleam.  
“So….Cardiff?….that’s in the UK right?” Eric curiously inquired.  
“South coast of Wales, Yes.” Alex said before shovelling a fork full of coleslaw in his mouth.  
“So that’s why.” Bella said with a half-smile like she deciphered a great mystery.  
“Why what?” Alex said with a perplexed look on his face and a mouth full of coleslaw.  
“The accent.” Bella said with a half-smile on her face.  
“Oh…that” Alex chuckled “Well I try to be less obtrusive as possible but I guess people easily pick up on the way I speak.”  
“Nah, Its cool man. Don’t worry too much about it.” Tyler said tapping his back.  
“By the way…La Push baby, are you in?” Eric then sleekly said, looking at Bella.  
“Should I know what that mean?” Bella replied, expressing slight confusion and trace amount of antipathy for what sounded very much like an innuendo.  
“La Push down at the Quileute reservation. We’re all going tomorrow” Mike explained.  
“Yeah and there’s a big swell coming in.” Jessica further supplied.  
“And I don’t just surf the internet.” Eric suddenly stood from where he sat and posed a mock surf boarder stance which prompted Mike to do the same in response before being pulled back by Tyler.  
“Eric you stood up once, and it was a foam board.” Jessica reminded him.  
“But there’s whale watching too. Come with us. Alex you should totally come too.” Angela said trying to convince the two new comers.  
Everyone is in agreement with her statement and began to cheer in to persuading the two.  
“It’s La Push baby. La Push!” Eric reiterated but in a somehow creepier manner.  
“Sounds great” Alex said. A little creeped out from how Eric says ‘La Push’ though he didn’t let anyone notice it.  
“Ok, I’ll go if you stop saying that” Bella said munching on a cucumber before proceeding to the lunch line counter of the cafeteria.  
“Seriously dude, it’s creepy” Mike said in agreement  
“What? That’s what it’s called.” Eric replied in an awkwardly fading voice. Admitting defeat but still trying to salvage a few shreds of his dignity.  
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“It’s her isn’t it?” Alice inquired in a worried tone after seeing Edward painfully trying to control his urge.  
Edward didn’t respond but his grip on a paper napkin he’s holding tightened then he abruptly threw it on the table.  
“That may not be our only problem” Naruto said while subtly tilting his head to point out Alex.  
“The new kid?” Emmett snorted with an unworried smirk.  
“What do you mean?” Jasper queried, looking at the other blonde with a slightly confused but curious expression.  
“There’s something not quite right about this guy. He’s not a vampire, I’ll tell you that but I suspect he’s no ordinary human either.” Naruto said in a serious tone, his eyes narrowing on the newcomer.  
“He’s kind of cute though.” Rosalie involuntarily muttered which Alice furtively concurred and earned a jealous look from Emmett.  
“I tried to read him earlier but his mind is like a labyrinth I can’t get through. It’s painful even to try.” Edward hissed as he recalled the agonizing experience.  
Suddenly Alice looked like as if she’s in immense agony, she held her head like it is being split in to two. She felt a sharp pain as if the remnant of what used to be her soul was being distorted and torn by an unseen power.  
“Alice are you alright? What’s happening?” Jasper fretfully asked while holding her in his arms.  
“My vision….it’s really strange. It…it’s like a hazy forest. I can’t see anything but mist, then suddenly everything became distorted and incomprehensible…..like looking at a kaleidoscopic vision of chaos. It was terrible.” Alice replied gasping from the strain of her unpleasant ordeal.  
“Do you think he has something to do with this?” Edward queried while the blonde and the rest of the Cullens suspiciously eyed the young man.  
“I don’t know, but it seemed likely.” Naruto replied  
A long minute of uncanny silence reigned over them as they all wordlessly concluded that further investigation must be carried out before they confront the mysterious stranger.  
Meanwhile, Edward caught a gaze of Bella and decided to approach her.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬Bella was at the lunch line getting herself a salad that she somewhat assembled in an aesthetically pleasing manner.  
“Edible art?” said a voice that startled her in to dropping an apple from the counter. But before the fruit could touch the ground it was kicked up and gracefully caught on the palms of the voice’s owner. Bella gazed up but before she could compliment the skill she saw it was Edward. His eyes weren’t brown anymore and he looks paler than before, though, surprisingly he is in a good mood.  
“Bella” Edward greeted her with a smile.  
“You know. Your mood swings is kind of giving me a whiplash.” Bella retorted as she walked around the lunch line.  
“I only said it would be better if we aren’t friends not that I don’t want to be.” Edward calmly said in a soothing voice.  
“What’s that even mean?” Bella retorted with an inquiry in a somewhat irate tone.  
“It means that if you’re smart, you’ll stay away from me.”  
“Ok let’s say for arguments sake that I’m not smart. Would you tell me the truth? Bella hopefully asked while looking at his eyes.  
“No…probably not.” Edward gawkily replied as he quickly severed his eye contact. Bella sighed and turned away from him as well.  
“I’d rather hear your theories.” Edward then said.  
At this point Eric, Alex and Jessica caught a glimpse of Mike staring jealously at Edward who’s talking to Bella.  
“I considered you have radioactive spiders and kryptonite.” Said Bella that made Edward smile in amusement.  
“It’s all superhero stuff right? What if I’m not the hero, what if I’m the bad guy?” Edward said in a serious tone supplementing his sudden mood shift.  
“You’re not. I can see what you’re trying to put off. But I can see that it’s just to keep people away from you. It’s a mask.” Bella said that made Edward’s eyebrows furrowed together in contemplation of what he just heard.  
“Why don’t we just hang out? Everyone’s going to the beach…come. I mean have fun.” Bella said eloquently that made Edward smile some more and genuinely considered to join them.  
“Which beach?” Edward asked  
“La Push” Bella replied which made Edward’s smile drop instantly like an icicle blasted by a flamethrower.  
“Is there something wrong with that beach?” Bella inquired. She was perplexed by Edward’s sudden change of disposition  
“I don’t know...it’s just…” Edward mumbled, and then he was awkwardly silent for a while and quickly glanced at Bella’s friends behind him. “It’s just a little crowded.” He retorted before walking out without any warning further confusing the already dumbfounded Bella.  
“You ok Bella?” Alex inquired with a sincere gleam.  
“Yeah…why did you ask?” Bella awkwardly answered as she lifted her tray.  
“Well…You look kind of pensive.” Alex replied ever so politely in the same awkward manner, which for some bizarre reason made Bella felt a little better.  
“I’m good thanks for asking.” Bella responded with a smile.  
“Ah, see. You look much more beautiful when you smile.” Alex said beaming as well that made Bella blush.  
“Whatever” Is the only word she can cumbersomely utter before her face turned completely red.  
“Are you sure you’re ok? You look a little bit flushed. Would you like me to accompany you to the school infirmary?” Alex said looking her straight in the eyes, completely clueless of what he did but felt genuine concern for his new friend.  
“I said I’m fine.” Bella agitatedly mumbled as she stormed back to their table leaving a dazed Alex who still don’t have any idea what just happened.  
“Ok” Alex awkwardly mumbled. “Maybe she has her period?…yup that must be it” He thought, scratching his head in confusion.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
“Looks like pretty boy is pulling a fast one on your girl” Naruto teased Edward that bridled the vampire and made his eyes snap in barely controlled anger, narrowing its gaze on the young man.  
“He doesn’t look too clever though” Edward sniffed and said as he continuously gave Alex unkind glares.  
“I would revise that assessment if I were you old chap.” Naruto said in a mock accent akin that of Alex’s. Making Edward turn and look at the blonde with a blank expression.  
Naruto chuckled a bit before his tone became more serious “You see in my experience. The one who played the fool is usually the most cunning and often the most dangerous.” He said as he recalled his past altercations with Obito.  
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(Gym Class)  
“Crowley shirts, Storm skins, Newton shirts, Yorkie skins, Cullen Shirts, Uzumaki skins…..” Coach Clapp continuously howled in a deep, sharp voice as he segregated his students for basketball.  
“Oh yeah! You guys ready to play some ball!” Naruto roared ecstatically. Basketball has been his favourite sport since he and Dr. Naismith invented it one rainy day, back in 1891. More than a century of practice and play made him practically unbeatable. He has been invited on more than one occasion to join the school varsity as people perceived him to have prodigious natural talent for the sport; offers he all but turned down without any explanation, much to the dismay and displeasure of Coach Clapp.  
“Well, at least someone’s happy about gym class.“ Alex thought in amusement seeing the overly passionate blonde.  
“Oh man. I hate this” Eric sulked.  
“Don’t worry about it man. At least were on the same team.” Alex sanguinely said to console him. He then tilted his head to subtly point out Mike who’s clearly not amused being teamed up with Edward, and apparently the feeling is mutual as the vampire can read the maledictions and less than pleasant things he’s thinking.  
“I wish I have your optimism.” Eric replied. His gloomy mood has somewhat been slightly assuaged as he saw the humorous irked expression on Mike’s face. Misery loves company, especially if the other guy is a little bit more miserable than you are.  
“Oh lighten up buddy.” Alex chuckled as he took off his shirt to prepare for the sport.  
The air was suddenly silent. And for the second time; time seemingly grinds to a halt. The myriad of girls in the vicinity blushed red and for a fleeting moment most of the boys made themselves question their own gender preferences. Their eyes the size of dinner plates and their jaws nearly fell out as they beheld the shirtless Alex.  
The usual clothes he wear deceptively guised his lean but perfectly sculpted Greek-god body. But that irksome piece of cloth is now gone and his singularly defined upper-physique is all but bare for everyone to see. And euphoria it was; especially for the vacant eyed, seemingly tranced young women whose bliss induced flushed faces are as red as the delicately blooming roses in the summer gardens of the palace of Versailles.  
Edward felt the gnawing frustrations and despondency in his heart just grew as he caught a glimpse of Bella, who at the moment was so allured and captivated at the aesthetic paragon that is Alex. He may not be able to read her mind but a single glance on her face is all that is needed to reckon the naughty fantasies in her head.  
“Pretty boy = 2, Edward = zilch” Naruto teased. “I would do something about that if I were you.” he then continued with a playful smile on his face.  
Edward gave him an austere stare; which in reality is just a front to mask his jealousy. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” he then scoffed and was about to walk out.  
“I think we both know what I’m talking about. Don’t go all emo on me when she picked him over you.” Naruto said in a sagely but sarcastic tone that made Edward pause and come to his senses.  
“What would you have me do then?” Edward sneered in a rage fuelled but hushed, whispering voice as he finally snapped.  
“Ok. First calm down, I’m here to help you. Second, this guy plays in a completely different league. Let’s admit the fact that your natural charms is no match for someone that looks like a gay guy designed in a genetics lab. You see I did some research and as if things aren’t bad enough I found out that Alex stud-muffin over there is from some fancy aristocratic family. His real name is Lord Alexander Altairus d’Sanguinus-Storm, if you’re feeling formal, that is. That’s why we should step up your game ya’ know!” Naruto explained in the same sagely but this time encouraging tone.  
“Step up my game? What do you mean?” Edward inquired with a cloud of bewilderment in his face.  
Naruto’s sagely aura suddenly dropped like a fly. “Yeah…we have a lot of work to do.” he then said in an uneasy monotonous voice and with a blank face as he realized that this task wouldn’t be that easy, in fact it would be very much the opposite.  
“That stuff you said about being designed by a gay guy in a lab. You just ripped that from a movie didn’t you?” Edward wryly inquired with a supressed smirk on his deadpan face.  
“That’s not the point ya’ know!” Naruto retorted in a comical aggravated outburst.  
Meanwhile, Alex as usual is completely oblivious and clueless of the effects he had and just set about his business like nothing is amiss.  
“Great! The last thing I need is some clueless himbo turning these girls in to hormone crazed rabid animals.....Ridiculous! I don’t get paid enough for this. Not even close.” The etched Coach Clapp thought sarcastically in derision and disbelief as he watched his distracted female students. “Storm! Put your shirt back on son. You and Newton are switching teams.” he said regaining his senses back and much of his authoritarian disposition.  
Mike seemed relieved being relinquished from the torment of teaming up with freaky Cullen, as he puts it. While Alex on the other hand don’t seem too keen on taking up Mike’s place as he is being eyed quite darkly by Edward.  
“Lighten up buddy!” Eric teased as he saw Alex’s staggered expression upon hearing Coach Clapp’s announcement.  
“I wish I have your optimism.” Alex retorted in a sarcastic tone that sent Eric in to a fit of roaring wild laughter.  
“Yorkie! Shut up and get your ass in here!” Yelled Coach Clapp that made everyone snigger for irony is such a funny thing indeed.  
.  
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That night Bella had a strange and rather eerie dream. She found herself in a stunning but uncanny realm overlooking the ruins of a once grand and magnificent ancient city that is now plagued by a haunting silence from eons of being forsaken by its equally antediluvian denizens. For reasons she couldn’t fully comprehend she decided to walk towards its direction and approach it.  
The ruins lie a mile or two to the east of her current location. With narrow but steady strides she manages to get closer and closer, passing a field of strange and alien like vegetation on the interlude that looked like giant blood-tinged sunflowers that swayed rhythmically at the sound of her footsteps. Bella walked a little bit further and was finally able to gain enough proximity from the ruins for closer inspection. She was horrified however, as she found out that the said ruins is a great and surreal necropolis of some sort. Its outer walls seemed to be constructed from quadrilateral crystal sarcophagi stacked upon each other like bricks. The corpses entombed within were transparently visible and wore the garbs of a forgotten civilization from time immemorial. They remained uncorrupted, projecting an illusion of life as they seemed to be only in a state of deep slumber, eternally dreaming.  
She mustered enough courage to walk passed through the macabre wall and saw the mottled remnants of a once proud watch-tower wrought of ghost white marble that appeared to have served as a defensive edifice in the past along with myriad of curious obsidian monoliths etched with incomprehensible runes from a language long forgotten.  
Bella walked further and saw an eerie glow emanating from the portal of the inner citadel. Her curiosity impelled her feet to stride in to the citadel’s direction. As she entered its threshold, she beheld a grand and majestic tree the size of a luxury cruiser and as tall as a modern skyscraper. Within the heart of the tree’s decussating spire like inner branches lies what seemed to be a miniature blue sun wreathed with black coronal flares and was scintillating rays of dazzling effulgence. The intense and strange brilliance momentarily bereft Bella of her senses and enthralled her in to a trancelike state.  
Bizarre and dark visions flashed before her eyes as the prodigious phantom rays of the elfin star touched her skin.  
She saw a great and terrible war between grotesque creatures under the command of a colossal cyclopean monster and humans with strange powers being led by Naruto and a rather unfamiliar raven haired boy, like generals. The battle was horrific and bloody but Naruto and his forces managed to secure a victory. Though, triumph was as bitter as defeat for all the belligerents perished in its conclusion, save for the grief stricken golden haired warrior.  
Another vision materialized before Bella like vapour fogging a mirror. She saw Edward being stabbed with a shimmering ethereal lance by what appeared to be an angel; causing the former to crack and shatter in to incalculable fragments like powdery broken glass.  
She then woke up, gasping from a dream she couldn’t remember nor could she recall the phantasmagorical and cryptic visions vouchsafed by the great tree and its clairvoyant star. Bella looked over her shoulder, unintentionally gazing upon her window and saw a breath-taking sight. The night sky was strangely unhindered by the nigh ubiquitous clouds and the landscape was bathed with the gentle iridescent shimmer from the stars and the peering moon who revealed their light with uncanny lustre along with a great meteor shower that smote the skies with innumerable traces of glittering fiery trails. 


	5. The Nomads

The next morning, Bella was waked by an unusual brightness. She opened her eyes and saw a clear yellow light streaming at her window. She couldn’t quite believe it and hurried to check. Sure enough, there was the sun, though it was in the wrong place in the sky. “Too low” she thought. Clouds ringed the horizon but a large patch of blue was visible in the middle. She lingered by the window as long as she could; afraid that if she left even for a while the blue will disappear again.  
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(La Push: First Beach)  
It was only fifteen miles to La Push from Forks; with gorgeous green forest etching the road most of the way and the wide Quileute River snaking beneath it twice. The weather was pleasant along the way and Bella soaked up much sunlight as possible, but the ominous clouds suddenly materialized and the sky became opaque again, and the temperature dropped slightly. Nonetheless, it was still breath-taking. The water was dark grey, and islands rose out of the steel harbour waters which was sheer cliff size, reaching in to unevenly undulating summits and crowned with steer soaring firs.  
The beach had only a thin border of actual sand at the water’s edge; after which it grew in to millions of large smooth stones that looked uniformly grey from a distance but up close were every shade a stone could be.  
The tideline was strewn with huge driftwood trees, bleached bone-white in the salt waves; some piled together at the edge of the forest fringe, some lying solitary just out of reach of the waves.  
There was a brisk wind coming from the waves. It was cool and briny. Pelicans floated on the swells while seagulls and a lone eagle wheeled above them.   
They picked their way down to the beach with Mike leading them to a ring of drift wood logs that has been obviously been used for parties like theirs before. There was a fire circle already in place, filled with black ashes.  
Eric and the other boys gathered broken branches of driftwood from the dryer piles against the forest edge and soon has tepee shaped construction build a top of the old cinders   
“It’s freezing in here.” When are you guys planning to light it? And where’s Alex by the way? Are you sure he’s coming?” Jessica queried with a bit of irritation in her face.   
“Relax Jessica. I called him a while ago. He’s coming, just got a little lost on the way here” Eric explained while putting on his wetsuit. “Have you ever seen a driftwood fire?” He then turned to Bella who was seating on one of the bone coloured benches.  
“Why didn’t he tag along with us by the way?” Tyler asked as he lit one of the smaller sticks with a cigarette lighter and then placed the now blazing twig carefully on the tepee. The dry wood quickly started to catch fire, crackling as it burned in multi-hued flames.  
“I’m not sure but I heard him said something about picking up his ride or something like that” Mike answered, a bit uncertain himself though it was sufficient to satisfy the curiosities of the enquiring crowd.   
Meanwhile Bella and Angela moved to a car nearby as they conversed “So I keep thinking that Eric is going to ask me to the prom and he just…doesn’t” Angela said with a gloomy tone   
“You should ask him. Take control you’re a strong, independent woman” Bella encouraged her.   
“I am?” Angela said as her eyes slowly bristled with hope.  
“Yes” Bella firmly replied that made Angela smile and be filled with courage.  
“Bella” A voice greeted Bella which made her turn around to see a face she hadn’t seen for a while. It was Jacob Black along with two of his friends Sam Uley and Embry Call.  
“Hi Jacob. Guys this is Jacob” Bella greeted back and introduced Jacob and his friends   
Jacob sat next to Bella “What are you stalking me?” she teased him.  
“You’re in our resz remember?” Jacob teased back.  
Suddenly a basalt black 2009 Porsche Carrera-GT got their attention as it parked near them. They were further astounded when they learned that Alex was the driver behind it.   
“I’m so sorry for being late. I kinda took the wrong turn back there. I hope I didn’t miss anything” Alex said as he clumsily exit his car in frantic.  
“Whoa! Nice car dude!” Eric said with a shimmer in his eyes.   
“Thanks, she’s my favourite” Alex said, regaining some of his composure as he and Eric approached the others. Bella introduced him to Jacob and his friends who he got along just fine.  
“Are you surfing?” Jacob asked Bella.  
“Definitely not” Bella replied while offering him some liquorish.  
“You guys should keep Bella company. Uhm…her date bailed” Jessica said in a semi-concerned sweet tone, masking her hidden angst against Bella.   
“What date?” Eric inquired with a harsh quivering voice and a worried look.   
“She invited Edward” Jessica giggled.   
“To be polite that’s it” Bella awkwardly said as she recalled her conversation with Edward at the cafeteria.  
“I think it’s nice she invited him….nobody ever does” Angela said with a genuine expression of commiseration on her face.  
“Yeah cause Cullen’s a freak” Mike said without hesitation as if some bottled up annoyance finally surged out of his system like a solar flare.  
“You got that right” Sam said in agreement.   
“You guys know him?” Bella wondered.  
“The Cullens don’t come here” He replied which bewildered Bella more than before. Subsequently, they caught a gaze on the awkwardly silent Alex as if he is in deep contemplation.  
“Something bothering you man?” Mike asked him.  
“Well now that you mentioned it. I’ve been getting a lot of nasty glares from Edward and his friend lately. I don’t know why though” Alex replied with both a disturbed and bemused expression.  
“You mean Naruto?” Angela inferred.   
“Yeah…the one who looks like a solid belieber” Alex quipped that made everyone laugh except Bella who’s curiosity was further fuelled.   
Unbeknownst to them Naruto, utilizing Toton no Jutsu was listening to their conversation 200 feet away. “Belieber huh? I will smash that pretty boy’s face! Believe it!” He thought with a funny exasperated expression on his face and a cruciform popping vein in his forehead.  
Bella and Jacob started walking on the beach. Leaving Angela with Sam and Embry to keep her company while the others are surfing, or in the case of Alex, peering on a pair of binoculars in hopes that some less diffident whales would reveal themselves.  
“What did your friends mean about, you know, the Cullens don’t come here?” Bella asked, realizing it is the perfect opportunity for such an inquiry.  
“You caught that huh?” Jacob replied “I’m not really supposed to say anything about it” he further supplemented with a nervous voice  
“Hey can I keep a secret” Bella said with a gentle smile.  
“Really it’s just like an old scary story” Jacob said followed by an involuntary and odd sounding nervous laugh as he is about to be cornered from the cascade of questions that has been increasingly insurmountable to avoid.  
“Well, I want to know” Bella said in a persuading tone coupled with puppy dog eyes that made Jacob finally submit and furnish her with the information she’s desired.  
“Ok uhm, did you know Quileutes are supposed to be descended from wolves” Jacob told her with much enthusiasm.  
“What? Like wolves? Real wolves” Bella amusedly queried  
“Well that’s the legend of our tribe”  
“Ok…..so what’s the story about the Cullen’s”   
Jacob took a second before answering her question as if he is carefully choosing the words that will come out of his mouth “Well they’re supposed to be descended to this...like enemy clan. My great-grandfather, the chief found them hunting in our land. But they claim to be something different so we made a treaty with them. If they promise to stay off from Quileute lands then we won’t expose who they really were to the pale faces.”  
“I thought they just moved here” Bella said. She felt that her curiosity and confusion is starting to eat through her again   
“Or just moved back” Jacob replied  
They were suddenly alerted by a shriek. But it turns out that it was just Angela being pranked by Eric.   
“What are they exactly?” Bella asked once more in hopes that Jacob will reveal more information.  
“It’s just a story Bella. Come on lets go” Jacob looked amused but no longer willing to tell more.  
As soon as Bella got home she got on her laptop and looked up Quileute legends. She found a website that redirected her to a Quileute bookstore called Thunder Bird and Whale located in Port Angeles. She then clicked maps and wrote the bookstore’s address on a piece of paper.  
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Waylon was at the docks fixing his boat while listening to some music when suddenly he noticed that someone’s lurking around.   
“Joe?” He called in hopes that it was just his friend who unexpectedly arrived.  
But there was no answer. Waylon became increasingly worried, starting the boat then putting it on reverse for a quick escape as he thought that a wild animal such as a wolf or perhaps a bear has wondered near in search of food. He suddenly felt the boat waggle as if it was dragged forward by a creature of immense strength. He lost his balance and stumbled in to the boat.  
As he stood up, he was surprised and mesmerized to see a beautiful woman standing in front of him. She had long, curly, bright orange hair that look like fire and possessed a seductive, feline beauty.  
“Hello” Waylon said in a flirtatious tone but was suddenly startled when he heard a voice behind his back.  
“Nice Jacket” Said the voice in a feral like tone. Waylon turned around and saw a muscular man with long blond hair tied behind his back like a ponytail. The latter was looking at him at him like a lion staring at his prey before going for the kill.  
“Who are you” Waylon asked, nervously.  
“It’s always the same questions. Who are you?” The blond man said mockingly. He seemed to find pleasure tormenting him.  
“What do you want?” The orange haired woman supplemented.   
“Why are you doing this?” The blonde man once again continued.  
“James, let’s not play with our food.” Said another voice. Waylon looked under his shoulder and saw a dark skinned man with dreadlocks and was garbed in the fashion of the previous centuries.  
The orange haired woman moved with blinding swiftness and then kicked Waylon, making him fall flat on his boat. The trio of vampires abruptly pressed him on the floor; they then sank their teeth on him and fed on his blood until he died.  
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The next morning Bella was yet again awakened by the bright sunlight emanating though her window. The temperature was pleasantly warm and cozy. It was quite rare for the sun to reveal itself in this cloudy little town, and rarer still for it to do so twice in succession. She washed and dressed in less than half the time she usually does to relish the meteorological miracle.   
Arriving at school earlier than she usually does; she saw everyone was apparently in a good mood and basking in the warm radiance of the relatively extraordinary phenomenon. Jessica was sunbathing on a table, while Mike, Tyler and Eric were playing frisbee, and Alex seemed to be content reading a book under the shade of a tree. Her eyes where animate however, searching for a particularly illusive face she couldn’t spot among the crowd.  
“He’s not here.” Jessica said concisely; accurately deducing who she’s looking for. “Whenever the weather’s nice, the Cullen’s disappear.” She then continued while soaking as much vitamin-D as possible.  
“What? Do they just ditch?” Bella inquired honestly. There’s no longer a reason for subterfuge since she already got caught.   
“No, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen yank them out for camping and hiking, and stuff…I tried that on my parents, not even close.” Jessica replied. The sunlight distracted her from normally asking several counter-inquiries for every question she answers.  
“Guys!” Jessica said as she rushed to them. “I’m going to the prom with Eric, I took control.” she then continued excitedly as she announced the good news to Bella and Jessica.  
“I told you that would happen.” Bella said with a broad smile and hugged Angela.  
“Are you sure you have to go out of town.” Angela asked Bella in a downcast tone.  
“Yeah. It’s a family thing” Bella responded.  
“Okay, we should go shopping at Port Angeles before all the good dresses get cleaned out” Jessica suggested.  
“Port Angeles? Can I come?” Bella sheepishly queried.  
“Yeah…I need your opinion.” Angela excitedly responded.  
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(Bella’s House – After School)  
Bella had fish marinating for dinner along with salad and bread left from the night before. There’s no house work left for her to do and decided to spend a focused half-hour on homework but before she knew it, she’s finished all of them too. She then opened her laptop and checked her email, seeing the back logged emails from Reneè, getting snippier as they progressed to the present. She sighed as she typed a quick response:  
“Mom,  
I’ve been out. Went to the beach with some friends   
and I have to write a paper.”

She realized that her excuse was pathetic, so she gave up on that and wrote a new one.

“It’s sunny outside. I know...I’m shocked too. So I’m going outside and soak up as much vitamin-D as I could.

I love you.  
Bella”

After a while, Bella decided to kill an hour with non-school related reading. She had a small collection of books she brought with him to forks, the shabbiest volume being a compilation of the works of Jane Austin, which she selected, then grabbing a ragged old quilt from the linen cupboard she went out to the backyard.   
Outside in Charlie’s small-square yard she folded the quilt in half and laid it down of the reach of the trees’ shadows, on the thick lawn that would always be slightly wet no matter how long the sun shone. She lay on her stomach crossing her ankles in the air, flipping through the different novels in the book, trying to decide which would occupy her mind the most thoroughly. Her favourites were Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.   
She read the first most recently so she started reading Sense and Sensibility, only to remember after she began reading on chapter three that the hero of the story happened to be named Edward. Angrily, she turned in to Mansfield Park, but the hero of that piece is named Edmund, and that was just too close.   
“Weren’t any other names available in the 18th century?” She said annoyed as she snapped the book shut and rolled over to her back.   
She pushed her sleeves up as high as they would go and closed her eyes.   
“I would think nothing but the warmth of my skin.” She told herself, severely.   
The breeze was still light but it blew ten rolls of her hair and it tickled a bit. She pulled all of her hair over her head, letting it fan out on the quilt above her, and focused again on the heat that touched her eyelids, her cheek bones, her nose, her lips, her forearms and her neck, soaked through her light shirt. The tender-warm rays of the sun were so soothing that she inadvertently fell asleep.   
Bella then found herself once again face to face with the great tree from her past dream. She saw the elfin star within its inner branches quivering, its flares engulfing the fiery sphere like blight. A burst of monochromic wave of energy then emanated as it collapsed upon itself. The monoliths, the watch-tower, the macabre wall and even the landscape itself surreally disintegrated like a feeble flame blown away by the winds of darkness, leaving nothing but a void and empty space. All that remained of the once awe-inspiring realm were the great tree itself and a violently convulsing amorphous energy that used to be its symbiote star.   
Bella then beheld as the nebulous energy blackened like an eclipse and warped itself in to an anthroporphic shape. It took the form similar to a pitch-black silhouette of a youth, and was riddled with star-like spots all over its shadow-like body, as if someone took a piece of the infinite universe and shaped it in to the looming entity .  
A cloak of fiery white energy ignited and emanated from the entity as it opened its glowing eyes. Bella froze in fear as she realized that the former’s attention is now turned to her. She tried to run in to the nothingness of the void but the eldritch being blinked itself in front of her.   
“Isabella” It then held out its hand and spoke in a cold, eerie and echoing voice.  
“Get away from me!” Bella screamed in fear.  
The entity paid no attention to her frantic and continued to hover closer and closer to where she stood.  
“Bella” She then heard a pleasantly penetrating voice that roused her from her nightmare. “Bella wake-up.”  
The entity and the dream then dissolved like foam as her senses returned to the waking world. As she slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she saw are strikingly beautiful and iridescent pair of sapphire-like bright-blue eyes staring at her, its owner was dangerously close to her face.   
Flabbergasted, the first thing that came in mind was a particular move she learned at self-defence class, back in Phoenix. She thumped the guy right on his chin then kneed him on the groin. She then quickly stood up and reached to her back pocket for the pepper spray that Charlie gave her.  
“Who are you? I’m gon’na call the police!” Bella demanded while aiming the pepper spray at her assailant, who was still groaning in pain.  
“Ouch! What you do that for Bella? And what’s with the pepper spray?” He bellowed in a familiar accented voice.  
“Alex? Is that you?” Bella inquired with a confused expression on her face.   
“Yeah, it’s me.” Alex awkwardly retorted in a relatively wobbly and squeaky voice while trying to stand up.  
“What are you doing here?” Bella asked suspiciously. Not letting her guard down, she had the pepper spray’s nozzle still aimed at Alex’s face.  
“You left this at Biology class earlier so Angela and I came here to give it back.” Alex grunted while handing Bella her notebook. “We heard you screaming so I sprinted as fast as I could to check what’s happening and saw you lying on the ground, apparently having a nightmare of some sort. When I tried to wake you up…you whacked me in the chin and kneed me in the...well, in the….oh you know very well where!” He then continued with an expression of extreme discomfort on his face. “Okay, could we put away the bloody pepper spray now?”  
“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry. Are you alright?” Bella staggeringly said as she slowly realized what really happened.  
“Well aside from the fact that I’m possibly no longer capable of ever siring children…Yes, I suppose I am.” Alex said, still trying to lighten things up even though in obvious pain.  
As if on cue, Angela nervously walked in with her phone clasped in one hand. “I already called 91….Oh my God what happened!” She cried-out shocked as she saw Bella helping Alex stand-up. The young man looked like he was brutally attacked.  
“There was a little accident but it was nothing.” Alex responded.  
“Yeah, it was a false alarm” Bella sheepishly supplemented.   
Sure enough, Charlie’s cruiser came screeching in after a few minutes, and it would appear that he brought the entire Forks police force with him. It was an awkward moment that became gradually more uncomfortable as they explained how it was all a mistake.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
Later that day the awkward situation finally quells down and everyone went on their way home. Bella then remembered that dinner’s not ready yet so she immediately started preparing it.  
“Sorry Dad. Dinner’s gon’na be late tonight.” Bella said as she fried the fish.  
“Don’t worry about it. I wanted to catch the score on the game anyway.” Charlie said as he hanged his gun belt and step out of his boots.  
After they had dinner, Bella decided to watch TV with Charlie, for something to do. There isn’t anything on she wanted to watch though. The former knew she didn’t really liked baseball and turned the channel to some mindless sitcom that neither of them enjoyed. He seemed happy nonetheless, that he and his daughter are doing something together. Same goes with Bella, despite her depression.  
“Dad?” Bella said during a commercial “Jessica and Angela are going to look for dresses tomorrow night and they wanted me to help them choose. Do you mind if I go with them?”  
“Jessica Stanley?” Charlie asked.  
“And Angela Webber” Bella sighed as she gave him the details.  
“But you’re not going to the dance right?” Charlie queried again, confused.  
“ No dad, but I’m helping them find dresses. You know. Giving them constructive criticisms” Bella explained “I wouldn’t have to explain this to a woman” She then thought.   
“Well…ok” Charlie gawkily said, realizing he’s out of his depth with the girly stuff. “It’s a school night though?”   
“We’ll leave right after school so we could get back early. You’ll be okay for dinner right?”   
”Bells, I fed myself for 17 years before you got her” Charlie reminded him.  
“I don’t know how you survived.” Bella muttered. “I’ll leave some things for the cold cut sandwich okay. Right on top.” She then continued.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
The weather was fairly nice in the morning. Bella awakened with a renewed hope that she grimly tried to suppress. She dressed for the warmer weather in a deep blue, V-neck blouse, something she wore in the dead of winter in Phoenix.  
She planned her arrival at school so that she’s barely in time to make it to class. With a sinking heart she circled the full lot looking for a space, while also searching for the silver Volvo that was clearly not there. Bella parked in the last row and hurried to English, arriving breathless but subdued before the final bell. It was the same as yesterday; she couldn’t keep little sprouts of hope from budding in her mind, only to have them squashed painfully as she searched the lunch room in vain.  
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After school Jessica followed Bella home in her old white Mercury so that the latter could ditch her books and truck. Bella brushed her hair quickly when she was inside, feeling a slight lift of excitement as she contemplated getting out of Forks. She then left a note for Charlie on the table, explaining again where to find dinner.   
Switching her scruffy wallet and school bag to a purse she rarely use, she ran out to join Jessica. They went to Angela’s house next and she’s waiting for them. Bella’s excitement increased exponentially as they drove out of the town’s limits.  
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(Port Angeles)  
Jessica drove fast, much faster than Charlie so they made it to their destination by four. It has been a while since Bella had a girl’s night out and the estrogen rush was invigorating. They listened to whiny rock songs while Jessica jabbered on about her dinner with Mike, who apparently has gone very well.   
Port Angeles was a beautiful little tourist trap, much more polished and quaint than Forks. But Jessica and Angela knew it well so they didn’t plan to waste time on the picturesque board walk by the bay. They drove straight to the one big department store in town, which was a few streets in from the bay area’s visitor friendly face.  
The dress section wasn’t large but both of them found something to try on. Bella sat on a low chair outside the dressing room, contemplating about the bookstore she wanted to visit while in town.  
Jessica ended torn between two dresses. The first was a long, strapless, basic black number, and the other was a knee length, electric blue spaghetti straps.  
“The blue…It’ll bring out your eyes.” Bella said. Jessica did have startling blue eyes, in contrast to her brown, curly hair.  
Angela on the other hand, chose a pale pink dress that draped over her tall frame nicely. Bella complimented both of them generously and helped by returning the reject to their racks.  
“Ok I like this one, it makes my boobs look good.” Jessica said while trying on a pink dress.  
Suddenly a group of louts passed by, one of them knocked on the glass. “Hey Nice” He said, ribaldry , while ogling the girls.  
“Bella what do you think?” She then inquired as soon as the group of ruffians left, hoping for a positive opinion.  
“Looks great” Bella said  
“You said that about like the last five dresses though.” Jessica responded, not convinced of Bella’s replies.  
“I thought they were all pretty good” Bella again said, smiling.  
“You’re not really all in to this are you?” Angela said with a gentle voice, deducing that Bella’s lack of interest and distraction.  
“I just really want to go in to the book store.” Bella said honestly. “Meet you guys in the restaurant.”  
“Are you sure” Jessica asked her.  
“Yeah. See you in a minute”  
“Okay” Both Jessica and Angela exclaimed.  
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Bella hadn’t had any trouble looking for the bookstore. She shifted through the selection of various books and saw the particular volume she was looking for. She then headed straight to the counter, paid the item and went on her way to rendezvous with Angela and Jessica.   
“Have a good night.” Said the bookstore attendant as Bella egressed the premises.  
“Thank you”  
Bella started to walk along the alley, in to a few shops around the corner; but as she crossed another road, she realized that she’s going the wrong direction as she couldn’t see the landmark she passed on her way to the bookstore. Furthermore, it looks like the buildings where she’s at are mostly warehouses. She decided to turn east on the next corner and loop around after a few blocks, and try her luck on a different street on her way to the board walk.  
A group of four men turned around the corner where she’s heading. They were dressed too casually to be heading home from the office, but were too grime to be tourists. As they approached Bella, she realized that they were not too many years older than she is. They were joking loudly among themselves, laughing raucously and punching each other’s arms.   
Bella scooted as far to the inside of the sidewalk as she could to give them room, walking swiftly and looking past them to the corner.  
“Hey there!” One of them called as they passed. And he was obviously talking to her since nobody else is around.  
She glanced up automatically. Two of them have paused while the other two were slowing. The closest, a heavy set dark haired man in his early twenties seemed to be the one who have spoken. Bella then looked away and walked faster towards the corner. She could hear them laughing at full volume behind her.   
“Hey wait!” One of them called after her again.  
She kept her head down and rounded the corner with a sigh of relief, she could still hear them chortling behind her. Bella then found herself in a sidewalk leading passed the back of several sombre coloured warehouses, each with large bay doors for unloading trucks, padlocked for the night. The south-side of the street had no sidewalk, only chain link fence topped with barbed wire protecting some kind of engine parts storage yard. She then realized that she have wondered far past the part of Port Angeles that she, a guest, was intended to see.   
The crunch of gravel startled her, and made her glance around to see the two men from the group she passed by a little over five minutes ago, walking quietly about twenty feet behind her. It gave Bella an unnerving sensation and her heart started to beat faster.  
She started to rummage at her purse only to realize that she left her pepper spray at home. “Of all time.” She thought, distressed.   
Suddenly the dark haired man who cat called her earlier suddenly appeared with his other friend and intercepted her path, while the other two behind her was getting ever closer, entrapping her, preventing any escape.   
“There she is” he said, lewdly. “What’s up girl” he then continued as he ogled her.  
“Where are you going?”  
“Hang out with us?”  
“What’s the problem?”  
The others wheeled around Bella, perversely eyeing her like vultures who just found fresh carrion.  
“Don’t touch me” Bella muttered. Her warning was supposed to be strong and fearless, but it came out scared and small.  
They were all completely drunk; her protest fell on deaf ears and laughed raucously instead. One of them grabbed her, intending to rip her clothes off and rape her.  
Suddenly a silver Volvo appeared, almost hitting the stocky one, forcing him to jump back away from her and in to the side-walk.  
“Get in the car” Edward, who was the driver of the Volvo said as he got out of his car. He then glared at the four severely, wanting to tear them apart.  
Bella jumped in to the car as quickly as she could and slammed the door shut, locking it with fumbling fingers.  
“That was a very dangerous…move.” The stocky one said but his voice quavered in the end. He was taken aback and suddenly felt sober from an intense fear he couldn’t comprehend, as he beheld Edward’s angry glare.  
Edward then hopped back in to his car. Its tire squealed as the the machine spun around and face north, accelerating too quickly, swerving the stunned men on the street.  
“He drives like he’s drag racing.” Bella thought as Edward turned left sharply and exited on the main road, overtaking other cars.  
“I should go back there and rip those guys’ heads off.” Edward said, bridled in barely controlled anger.  
“No you shouldn’t” Bella said, trying to calm him down.  
“You don’t know the vile, repulsive things they’re thinking.” Edward retorted.  
“And you do?” Bella inquired.  
The question caught Edward by surprise and temporarily forgot his wrath. “It's not hard to guess. Will you talk about something else? Distract me so I won't turn around.” He then said, fabricating a believable premise and diverting the topic as they go.  
“You should put your seatbelt on.” Bella told him.  
Edward laughed tautly. “Why don’t you should put your seatbelt on?” He then said.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
It was past six-thirty when Bella arrived at the restaurant where she, Angela and Jessica decided to meet after their respective business.  
“Where were you? We left you messages.” Angela inquired, worried but seemed relieved when she saw Bella.  
“Yeah we waited but we’re like starving so…..” Jessica said, sharing the same sentiment with Angela but was suddenly cut-off when she saw who Bella was apparently with.  
“I’m sorry I kept Bella from dinner. We just sort of ran to each other and start talking” Edward said in a velvety voice that made both girls giggle.  
“No. we totally understand. That happens right?” Jessica said with a smile, now in full comprehension of the reason behind Bella’s late arrival.   
“Uhmm we were…” Bella said but couldn’t finish her sentence.  
“Oh yeah we were just leaving” Jessica finished the sentence for her. She and Angela are giggling, an indication that they would extract every juicy detail of Bella’s ‘date’ with Edward.  
“I think I should make sure Bella has something to eat” Edward then said “If you like? I’ll drive you home myself.” he then continued, looking at Bella, to which she just awkwardly nodded.  
“That’s really thoughtful.” Angela said with a smile, happy for her friend.”  
“Yeah, I should eat something.” Bella gawkily concurred.  
“So see you tomorrow.” Jessica said, the smile on her face might as well say ‘and tell me everything!’  
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“Alright, one mushroom ravioli.” The waitress served Bella her order but her attention seemed to be focused on Edward. “So are you sure there isn’t anything I can get you?” She then queried flirtatiously.  
“No. no thank you” Edward replied in a low, attractive voice.  
“Let me know” The waitress said yet again, and in the same flirtatious tone that made Bella’s eyebrows furrow.  
“You’re really not gon’na eat?” Bella asked him while whirling her fork on the pasta.  
“No, I’m on a special diet.” Edward replied, smiling.   
“You got to give me some answers.”  
“hmmm…yes, no, to get to the other side, 1.77725…”  
“I don’t want to know the square-root of Pi is.” Bella retorted, a bit miffed.  
“You knew that?”   
“How do you know where I was?”  
“I didn’t”  
“Right” Bella had it and was about to walk out on him.  
“Bella…don’t leave” Edward sighed.  
“Did you follow me?”  
“I feel very protective of you.”  
“So you followed me?”  
“I tried keep my distance unless you needed my help and then I heard what those lowlifes are thinking.”  
Wait. You said you heard what they were thinking?” Bella inquired that made Edward paused and sigh. “So you read minds?” She then said in a tone that is more like an assumption than an inquiry.  
“I can read every mind in this room….apart from yours.” Edward decided to answer her honestly. “Money, sex, money, cat…and then you, nothing…It’s very frustrating” He then continued, pointing out to Bella the thoughts of everyone in the room, except hers.  
“Is there something wrong with me?” Bella wondered.  
“I just told you I can read minds, and you think there’s something wrong with you” Edward chuckled. The expression in his face suddenly turned sombre.  
“What is it?” Bella asked.  
“I don’t have the strength to stay away from you anymore”  
“Then don’t” 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
Meanwhile, the men who attempted to rape Bella earlier regrouped in a secluded part of Port Angeles. Along with some other louts, they partied, drinking beer and playing music in their cars, loudly.  
“What happened a while ago was really weird huh?” One of the men said.  
“Forget that!” The other replied, handing him another can of beer and turning the music in to max volume.  
“How annoying that sound is” A shadowy figure on an unlit corner said in a soft-spoken but eerie and echoing voice.  
“Who’s there?” The dark haired man demanded with a stentorian voice, pulling a gun and aiming it on the stranger.  
“Nobody. Just a wanderer enjoying the evening air.” The entity once again spoke coldly and tranquil then revealed himself to be the same dark deity who obliterated the elemental nations and confined the sage of six paths in an otherworldly dimensional prison.   
Out of fright the man fired his gun continuously until he’s out of bullets, but it was in vain as the eldritch entity laughed at his futile efforts. A demonic grin then formed from its silhouette like, featureless face as he unleashed a bolt of monochromatic living lightning on to the thugs. The bizarre but frighteningly destructive fulmination leaped and branched out from target to target like it has a mind of its own, becoming more furious with every fresh arc.   
The carnage was so gruesome and mind-shattering to behold. Every living being in the vicinity was instantly destroyed for they burst and exploded like balloons filled with blood as the eldritch lightning bolt connected. All that remained were red stains on the ground and on the walls, and fiery trails from where the intense bolts ignited the air and melted concrete as it travelled.  
“Naruto….soon.” The dark god said in a cold, eerie echoing voice. Then with a flash of blinding iridescent light disappeared in to utter nothingness, leaving only a blood curdling, echoing laughter that sounded like the requiem of madness.  
-End


	6. Memento Mori

Edward accelerated his Volvo dangerously fast on their way back to Forks, while Bella on the other hand can’t help herself but stare at him with a confounded expression on her face. The conversation they had back at the restaurant was quite interesting, so to speak. Though his confession partially satisfied her pondering, it also generated a myriad of even more profound questions. A trace of renewed curiosity lingered and nurtured itself at the back of her head like a half-smothered ember that has been dropped in to a heap of dried leaves, and has secretly fed itself, biding for the time when it shall once again become an all-consuming flame that will burn an ever larger hole in her mind.  
“Ok, I think I’m warm enough now.” Bella said, reaching for the heater-dial at the same time Edward did as well, though the latter pulled his hand away quickly as it touched hers. She felt something strange about him. It roused her concern for it was uncanny; his hand was strangely cold, like a stone. “Your hand is so cold.” She then continued but Edward didn’t respond and just kept on driving.  
Bella felt that she offended Edward somehow and opted to be taciturn but vigilant. Her attention however, was turned to the flashing police lights as they were about to pass the police station.  
“What is going on?” Bella said, curious and concerned. “My dad’s still here. Can you pull in?” She then continued as she saw Charlie’s cruiser still parked out front.  
Edward did so and parked his car in between Charlie’s cruiser and a black Mercedes S550 “It’s my father’s car in the end. What’s he doing here?” He commented, wondering.  
“Carlisle what’s going on?” Edward then asked Carlisle, who was just exiting the station’s door.  
“Waylon Forge was found in the woods out near his place. I just examined his body.” Carlisle sighed and responded in a somber tone. Edward darkened upon hearing it and Bella was horrified.  
“He died? What happened?” Bella asked. She couldn’t believe what she just heard.  
“Animal attack” Carlisle told her. He and Edward inconspicuously looked at each other, wordlessly concurring that Waylon was murdered by a vampire.  
“Was it the same one that killed the security guard down at Mason.” Bella said. She caught Carlisle and Edward subtly trading looks. Clearly there’s more to this than they’re letting her on.   
“Most likely” Carlisle responded with a somber expression on his face.  
“It’s getting closer to town…” Bella said but was cut-off by Carlisle.  
“Bella. You should go inside. Waylon was your father’s friend.” Carlisle told her in a gentle voice.   
“Okay” Bella said in agreement as she could only surmise the pain Charlie must be going through right now. “Uhm…I’ll see you later.” She then said to Edward before entering the threshold of the police station.   
She saw Charlie devastated, sitting on his desk, looking at the photos, reports and evidences. Trying to make sense of his friend’s death. He knew instinctively that there’s more to this than just a mere animal attack.   
“Hey” Bella said in a low and solemn voice. “Dad I’m sorry about Waylon.” She continued.  
“Known him going to thirty years” Charlie said, transparently torn up from Waylon’s sudden and unpleasant passing.  
Bella placed her hand on to Charlie’s shoulder to comfort him, which the latter held gently and squeezed. It’s one of the few rare moments when the awkward barriers between her and the latter were broken and regards for each other’s well-being predominates.   
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(Cullen’s Residence)  
It was already passed ten o’clock when Carlisle and Edward arrived. The expression on everyone’s faces turned dark and hard as Carlisle told them about the earlier incident. They feared that the ripples caused by the incident would be significant enough to reach the attention of the Volturi, evoking their wrath.  
“Nomads?” Esme inquired, nervously.  
“Most likely” Carlisle replied, agreeing with her.  
“Or maybe not” Edward said in a stern voice. He and Naruto traded glances, confirming that they had the same notion as to who or what is responsible for the reckless and relatively ruthless slaughter.  
“He nearly made us believe he’s human” Jasper supplemented. Revealing that he too shared the same suspicion.  
“What do you mean?” Carlisle inquired. He along with Esme, Alice, Rosalie and Emmett were all bewildered.  
“Well, there is this pompous brat. I think it’s time for us to confront him.” Naruto responded with a clenched fist and a deathly expression on his face.  
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The next day was a Saturday. Bella woke up a bit late than she usually does, the rain from the previous night has ceased and left a myriad of poodles that reflected the opaque cloud forms drifting above.   
“Dad where’s the truck?” Bella inquired after noticing that her truck wasn’t in its usual spot.   
“Ah yeah, I forgot to tell you. I noticed that the engine is making this odd noise so I had Jacob pick it up yesterday for repairs.”   
“Oh I see” Bella mumbled  
“Are you going somewhere today Bells?”  
“Yes actually. I’m going to a friend’s house to do our biology project.”  
“Which friend?” Charlie inquired   
“Alex…Alex Storm. He’s new here, just moved in a couple of months ago.” Bella hesitantly answered.  
“The eccentric rich kid?” Charlie once again queried.  
“Yes….you know him?”   
“Not personally, though I know where he lives, his house is at the edge of town. I can give you a ride there.”   
“That would be great Dad”   
Isn’t that he the same boy you accidentally kneed in the….” Charlie said, suppressing a chuckle.  
“Yes” Bella replied uncomfortably in a sarcastic tone.  
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On their way, Charlie suddenly remembered something as the cruiser was about to pass Newton’s Olympic Outfitters. Lately there were strange rumors circulating around town of a giant bear that has been spotted by a few passing hikers and the said establishment is where it was first heard of. He suspected that the said animal maybe responsible for Waylon’s death. So he opted to confirm it.   
“Bella, do you mind if we pull over for a while, I have some errands to run. It won’t take much time.” Charlie said in a voice that was rather contemplative.   
“Sure dad” Bella replied.  
Charlie pulled over and parked just adjacent to the shop. For some reasons she couldn’t comprehend, Bella was compelled by what seemed to be an invisible force to walk towards the establishment and go inside.   
As she entered Mr. Newton genially greeted her and Charlie. She then saw Mike behind the cashier’s counter, having great difficulty trying to hang something on the wall.  
“Oh. Hey Bella” Mike greeted him jovially. “I can’t believe my luck today.” He thought happy as a clam.  
“Mike” Bella greeted back. “What are you doing there anyway” She then inquired.  
“Just hanging this digitally enhanced picture of my great grandfather and his crewmates. My dad thinks it looks classy.” Mike explained smirking.  
“Have a little family pride son. You’re great-grandfather is one of the first people who reached the Antarctic during his time. And besides, it does look classy.” Mr. Newton, who apparently heard his son’s wryly comment, momentarily severed his conversation with Charlie for a riposte.  
Bella pressed her lip in to a line, suppressing a giggle then converting it in to a vague smile.   
“So yeah, my great-grandpa was the doctor at this steam ship called the Isabel.” Mike explained in a hush and much more respectful voice. “Hey, you want to see something weird?” He then continued.  
“I don’t know” Bella replied, she already met her weirdness quota the other night.  
“Look at the person at the top left of the photo, the one that looks like he’s wearing a weird jumpsuit thing.” Mike said, enthusiastically.  
Bella did so and was astounded from what she saw. “Is that…” She muttered but can’t finish her sentence for it seems too surreal for credibility.  
“Looks exactly like Naruto right? I don’t know that jumpsuits were a hit back then” Mike finished it, chuckling as he cracked from his own joke.  
“When was this picture taken?” Bella inquired, quite intrigued.   
“About 1855 or 1856…Im not exactly sure” Mike ponderingly answered.  
Out of sudden phantasmagoric visions flashed before Bella’s eyes. She then recalled the dream about the great tree and the visions it furnished her, becoming increasingly lucid and overwhelmingly vivid the longer she looked at the photo.   
“Are you alright Bella?” Mike inquired, worried.  
“Yeah. I’m good” Bella replied holding her head, momentarily dazed and unable to think properly from the uncanny experience.  
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The entire interim of the drive passed ephemerally like an insignificant spark for Bella was deep in her contemplation, quite absorbed from the perturbing visions. She suddenly heard Charlie’s voice saying something, rousing her back to her senses.  
“Bells we’re here.” Charlie said pointing at the luxurious mansion wrought of chalk-white marble. The colossal edifice was larger than most malls they’ve ever saw and it towered lordly over the trees in the vicinity. On its huge façade stood multi-columned porticoes of the same chalk-white marble and a great iron wood door superbly etched and gilded in rococo designs. Charlie ringed the bell and an elderly man dressed in a business suit came out to receive them.  
“Chief Swan, Ms. Bella please do come in” He said warmly “My name is Sebastian, the head butler of this household” he then introduced himself as he guided them in.  
The interior of the lofty edifice was even grander, oozing with luxury and splendor. Elegant imperial chandeliers fashioned from the finest Italian crystals hung on the delicately frescoed and gilded ceiling. Overlooking the glossy floor of polished marble that was intricately mosaicked with semi-precious stones in classical byzantine and roman inspired designs; and an arcade of malachite wrought columns, standing by the pair, with their capitals crowned with golden acanthus leaves. Their base, along with the relief-etched frieze and even the modillion where all gilded as well.   
Suits of medieval armor stood proud in the hallways and corridors, wielding swords, pollaxes or mace like silent sentinels; while opulent rococo furnishings and remarkable works of art such as great urns of lapis lazuli, carved ivory tusks, magnificent sculptures and priceless paintings adorned the aesthetically stunning palatial residence of the Storms.  
A fairly sizable sculpture of a perching firebird caught Charlie’s attention, it was wrought of solid gold, and its crest and tail feathers were accented by delicately embedded flawless-gemstones. While Bella was intrigued by a strange painting, depicting four men; all of whom have death white pale skin and inhuman beauty as a common attribute. The first three were sitting on throne-like royal chairs while the last was standing just behind the third. They all have piercing burgundy-red eyes, save for the last which possess an amber-gold shade. Upon closer inspection, Bella saw that the divergent character bears a shockingly uncanny resemblance to a familiar character - Carlisle Cullen.   
“Miss Swan. This way please.” Sebastian said, ushering her before she could make any further scrutiny of the peculiar painting.   
“Quite some house you got here.” Charlie commented, impressed.  
“The late Lord and Lady Storm were ardent connoisseurs of art. Their impeccable aesthetic acuity was their common denominator, if I may say so.” Sebastian replied.  
“Well that explains the fine taste in home decorations.” Charlie thought “Im sorry did you say late…” He then continued reluctantly but was even more hesitant to finish the sentence. Bella on the other hand felt a bit sheepish and rueful for she forgot to tell Charlie about Alex’s parents and how any topic concerning them deeply saddens him.  
“Yes. I’m afraid they have passed away sir.” The elderly butler said in a somber voice. “They’re death has devastated Master Alexander profoundly.”  
“I’m sorry…I didn’t know” Charlie responded in a low and solemn voice. “But if you don’t mind me asking. What do they do for a living….when, you know…they’re still alive?” He then cautiously asked out of curiosity.  
“Dad!” Bella said in a low hissing voice, in protest to the nosy inquiry.   
“Certainly, Lord Gabriel Storm, the master’s father was a successful banker, and his mother, the Lady Ellara d’Sanguius-Storm was the current head of the noble house of Sanguinus, which is one of Europe’s leading weapons manufacturers since the Medieval Ages. Though after the Second World War, the family conglomerate decided to expand their corporate portfolio from military technologies and armament production to other industries such as power generation, naval engineering and construction, aerospace technology, pharmaceuticals, telecommunication, software design and development, shipping, and financial services; they also have significant investments on a number of tech-firms throughout the globe, own oil drilling platforms and refineries in the Middle-East and Southeast-Asia, and operates a recently acquired satellite control and launch facility in Kazakhstan.” The elderly butler responded, explaining every detail like an orator as they walked in the halls and corridors of the mansion.   
Sebastian then opened a hinged patio leading to an indoor garden. Bella entered first and saw the luxuriant botanical underbrush flourishing on the temperature controlled structure. There were pygmy date palms yielding sumptuous amounts of produce, lush pomegranate trees with beautiful fire colored blooms and large crimson fruits, a myriad of exotic and ornamental flora such as pink blossom trees and other plants with brightly colored flowers such as orchids, lilies, roses and peonies.   
An indoor waterfall cascaded and flowed in to a series of papyrus and lotus accented manmade ponds that were the sanctuary of multitudinously hued Koi fishes and exotic turtles. On the largest pond, at the center of two adjoining bridges, stood a water gazebo where Alex was. He didn’t seem to notice them come in and appeared to be frantically busy expending inordinate amount of efforts setting up the ‘study area’. He appeared preoccupied checking the minutest of details, making sure everything is perfect.  
“Excuse me sir, Miss Swan is here.” Sebastian announced.  
“Hey Bella, I hope you don’t mind doing our project he.…oh hello there Chief Swan” Alex jovially said, happy as a clam but was startled to see Charlie with her.   
“Hey” Bella awkwardly greeted back with a furrowed eye brows.   
Charlie nodded with a straight face in greeting but was laughing at the back of his head. “Well, I’ll be going now. Pick you up at five Bells.” He then said to Bella, suppressing a chuckle, before he left.  
“So…uhm…yeah, I already made the report regarding DNA replication of diploid germ cells, I just need…” Alex said, enthusiastically but was cut-off.  
“Alex?” Bella said with an incredulous look on her face.   
“Yeah?”   
“What’s all this about?”  
“Oh that would be the DNA structural model were going to use, it’s not finished though…so..uhmm, perhaps we could finish it together?” Alex said in a sheepish but hopeful voice.  
“That’s not what I meant. I thought we’re going to do our biology project, I didn’t agree to a date.” Bella said, raising a brow.  
“Whaaaaaat….no..no….I didn’t..uhm. You see…I just thought you…would prefer here cause, you know…you’re from Arizona…and uhm, a familiar scenery would be nice.” Alex incoherently mumbled. Stuttering as he tried to fabricate a reasonable premise but was obviously transparent.   
“And that?” Bella said; pointing at a nearby coffee table filled with plates of different kinds of hors d’oeuvres.  
“Snacks…in case we get hungry” Alex replied, discomfited.  
“Let’s just do it ok?” Bella smirked at the young man’s staggered reaction.  
“Do what?” Alex said awkwardly in a flustered but somewhat slightly hopeful voice. His eyes widened and his cheeks slightly blushed.  
“The project?” Bella sighed and replied in a deadpan tone.  
“Oh, ok” Alex said in a sheepish voice while the blushing on his face gradually became more intense.  
Hours passed and the uncomfortable barrier between the two gradually dissolved by the labor intensive technicalities of their biology project. Bella Suddenly remembered the peculiar painting she saw earlier and decided to ask Alex about it.  
“Uhm...Hey can I ask you a question?” Bella said in a somewhat quiet but serious voice.  
“Yeah” Alex replied, closing his laptop to focus on her.  
“There is this painting I saw a while ago while we’re on our way here. I’m just wondering about it.”  
“Which one?”  
“It’s the one depicting four men; two of them have long black hair while the other two were blonde. They were sitting in what looked like thrones, except for the last one who was standing behind the other blonde.” Bella said, trying to remember as much detail of the painting as she could.  
“The Volturi” Alex extrapolated.  
“I’m sorry, what?” Bella inquired with a bemused expression on her face.  
“The painting it called The Volturi” Alex explained in a gentle voice. “You know, there’s an interesting story behind that piece of work.” He then continued.  
“Can you please tell me?” Bella pleaded.  
“Ok…it was painted by a relatively obscured Italian artist named Vincenzo Lazzeri in the early 19th century, and believed to be the last of his work for he disappeared a few days later after he completed it.”  
“What happened to him?” Bella wondered  
“Nobody knows. People thought that he was a little crazy; always spouting about things that go bump in the night and stuff. Another strange thing is that, decades later, a man who bears an uncanny resemblance to him suddenly appeared in the outskirts of Lyon. The peculiarly pale stranger declared himself to be the long lost artist and painted a number of incredible works of art in the same style Lazzeri utilized to substantiate his assertion. He also claimed that he was turned in to a monster by one of the men in the painting and detested his damned existence ever since. It didn’t take long and he too disappeared, never to be seen again.” Alex explained in a calm and resonant voice but was singularly penetrating.  
“A monster….what kind of monster?” Bella inquired, her curiosity has now become a great conflagration that pushed her to dig deeper, to learn as much as she could.  
“Try some canapés their really good…or maybe some mini beef-wellingtons, smoked salmon crostini, or perhaps some caviar? I’ll have Sebastian fetch us some beluga caviar, you’ll love it.” Alex said in a pleasant and jovial voice, offering Bella something to eat from the assortments of gourmet delicacies, served on the numerous silver platters atop the nearby coffee table.  
“No thanks” Bella said with a vague smile.   
“Are you sure? They’re really good” Alex said in a silly and childlike manner, persuading her to try some.  
“Okay” Bella relented, amused on how puerile Alex can be. She tried some seared foie gras pate. Its rich, buttery and delicate taste melted on her tongue, and it was divine. “It’s really good.” She complimented.  
“Told yah” Alex amiably said in a silly voice. His eyes were sparkling and an innocent broad smile played on the edges of his lip.  
“Hey about my question earlier?” Bella suddenly remembered her prior inquiry, before her senses were clouded by the captious thralldom of the extraordinarily appetizing finger food.   
“Oh where are my manners…let me get you some ice tea” Alex said in a tremulous voice that instantly became less coherent as he noticed Bella giving him a dubious stare. “Pomegranate juice perhaps?” He then continued, uncomfortably and with an nervous smile.  
“No. Thank you. But you can answer my question” Bella said in a serious tone, crossing her arms. She noticed that Alex was deliberately eluding the topic for some reason and opted to give him a stern and piercing look in order to compel the latter to furnish her with the information she requires.  
“Those are unnecessary details anyway Bella” Alex dissuaded her.  
“I want to hear it, nonetheless” Bella persisted. Alex’s discouragement only fueled her curiosity.  
“Very well” Alex sighed in concede. He, however, hesitated more than a few times and was reticent for a lengthy interim before answering her question, and when he finally did, he answered quite cautiously; choosing his words carefully as he spoke. “They are called by many names but troubled souls are what they really are. They are the walking dead Bella. As per folklore, it is said that these undead beings subsist their ghastly form of immortal existence by draining and consuming the life essences of the living.”   
“Life essences?” Bella inquired in a low voice. She already knew the answer to her own question but asked nonetheless.  
“Blood in particular” Alex replied in a somewhat blasé voice, like he has seen these creatures firsthand and witnessed their activities himself but was completely indifferent to it.  
Bella turned taciturn for she was completely absorbed and in deep contemplation. “Vampires?” She involuntarily queried in a hushed voice, though the answer was intuitively obvious.   
“As a matter of definition, yes….but of course it’s just a bunch of silly superstitions.” Alex said in a comforting voice and with a reassuring smile.  
“Tell me more.” Bella said, curiously.  
“I’m afraid it’s all I know.” Alex replied sheepishly, scratching the bridge of his nose.  
“There is something he’s not telling me.” She thought but the young man’s silvery voice and relatively goofy personality has somewhat sponged away the feeling of suspicion and anxiety, superseding them with an unclouded equanimity that she found particularly pleasant.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
(Bella’s House)  
Bella was in her room, sitting on her bed and was haunted by the strange things that occurred that day. The eldritch visions on her dream, the strange boy in the century old photo, the uncanny painting at Alex’s house, along with the enigma of the latter who she felt was hiding something from her.   
On her pondering, she inadvertently stumbled upon the book she bought from that bookstore at Port Angeles but never had the chance to read. She took it out from the bag and start flipping its pages. As she leaf through its contents, she saw some beautiful photos of carved, ancient masks, who was both captivating and menacing.  
Then a particular picture caught her attention. It was a photo of bone-white mask with pitch black eyes and rows of needle like sharp teeth. The inscription bellow it says: ‘The Cold One: Apotamkin’   
Bella quickly went in to her desk and turned on her old computer. She hated using the internet there, her modem was sadly outdated and her free service was substandard that just dialing up took a toll on her patience. To make matters worse, her screen was filled with pop up ads the next moment she looked. She closed them all down and eventually found a promising sight.  
It has simple white background and black text, quite academic looking, and with two quotes greeting her at the homepage:  
‘Throughout the whole vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure so terrible, no figure so dreaded and abhorred, yet dight with such fearful fascination, as the vampire, who is himself neither ghost nor demon, but yet who partakes the dark natures and possesses the mysterious and terrible qualities of both. –Reverend Montague Summers’  
‘If there is in this world a well-attested account, it is that of vampires. Nothing is lacking: official reports, affidavits of well-known people, of surgeons, of priests, of magistrates; the judicial proof is most complete. And with all that, who is there who believes in vampires?’  
The rest of the sight was an alphabetized listing of all the different myths of vampires held throughout the world. She read carefully throughout the descriptions and saw the link on Apotamkin. She clicked it and several pictures began loading; Tapestries, engravings and paintings - all of which depicting the cold skinned Apotamkin devouring his victims.  
It caught Bella’s interest and she continued to click the links and read its content. The several words leap out in succession ‘speed, strength, cold skin’; traits that Edward possesses, she speculated. Then she saw two other words that dumbstruck her; ‘immortal’ and finally ‘blood drinker’  
Suddenly the picture and the painting of the persons with uncanny resemblance to Naruto and Dr. Cullen flashed before her eyes, along with the chilling sensation of when she first touched Edward’s cold skin. She also recalled the particular thing Alex mentioned to her earlier; “…undead beings subsist their ghastly form of immortal existence by draining and consuming the life essences of the living”  
“It’s…not…possible” She murmured to herself. Reeling back in to the computer in utter disbelief as the eerie pieces of the puzzle finally fell in to place rendering a spine-chilling conclusion.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
(Storm Residence – Library)   
Alex was at the library, reading a rather large volume that was bound in slate covers of leather and copper that was etched with uncanny seals and runes, and with verdigris eaten clasps. As he enjoyed reading the strange tome a pair of predator like eyes watched surreptitiously behind the shadows.   
“You might as well come out now” Alex said without gazing away from the pages of the volume.  
“Troubled soul? Ghastly existence? Oh I’m deeply hurt.” A velvety voice answered in a somewhat coquettish tone as he revealed himself. He was a tall man, standing at about six feet in height, and was inhumanly beautiful. He has blond hair that is not quite shoulder length, and that is rather curly, which sometimes, curiously appears white under fluorescent lighting. His eyes are gray, but they absorb the colors of blue or violet easily from surfaces around them. He has a short narrow nose, and a mouth that is well shaped, but has always been slightly large for his face. His mouth can look very mean or extremely generous, but always sensual. His face was constantly animated and beautiful, with skin that is deathly white and highly reflective, and glazed fingernails which gives the impression that their made of glass  
“Well, that’s what you get for eavesdropping Lestat” Alex said, smiling. He then closed the book, placing it back on the shelf.   
“C’est la vie” Lestat replied, accompanied by a penetrating laugh.   
“So very kind of you to pay me a visit” Alex greeted him in a manner like an old friend that he hasn’t seen for a long time.  
“It is always a pleasure to see you my lord” He then formally greeted Alex back, genuflecting with a vampiric grin on his face.  
“There’s no need for such unnecessary formalities my friend” Alex chuckled.  
“Would you rather prefer if I address you by your real name?” Lestat said, teasing Alex with a crooked smile on his face.  
“Alex will be fine” He casually replied.  
“I must say, I find it surprising to know that a greater being of immense power is a little shy around girls…and so puerile, and ticklish…I like it” Lestat continued teasing as he gracefully glided ever so closer.  
“I’m not perfect you know” Alex shrugged  
“Just nigh-omnipotent?” Lestat said with a sensual but leery smile on his face.  
“I trust that the power I vouchsafed served you well?” Alex inquired rhetorically, diverging from the topic.   
“Yes. Better than sex as a matter of fact. Which reminds me…you know my offer still stands.” Lestat said as he sensually ran his fore finger around Alex’s chest.  
“Offer? The way I see it, it’s more like a wishful request” Alex chuckled.  
“Hmm…admittedly I’m the one who’s going to enjoy it the most but it would be a mutually beneficial deal.” Lestat whispered softly, while his hand gently brushed the young man’s face going down to his shoulder.  
“And how is that?” Alex inquired in an ambiguous tone while giving the vampire an incredulous gaze.  
“Well once you have been immersed in the art of making love then perhaps you wouldn’t act like such a goof around your precious Bella.” Lestat, who is now behind Alex, coquettishly posited while playfully nibbling on the young man’s earlobes, making the latter’s brow furrow.   
“How generous of you but the short answer is no” Alex said sarcastically with a deadpan expression. “Dude. Seriously, stop that. You’re making things weird”  
“You won’t regret it…I promise” Lestat persuaded sensually while lifting Alex’s shirt just enough to expose the lower portion of his washboard abs and commencing to unbutton his trousers.  
“Enough with these trivialities” Alex said in a calm but penetrating voice.   
Lestat then suddenly found himself standing miles away from his previous position and in front of the Cullen’s house which was a sizable and modern structure, located fairly deep in the forest.  
“What just happened? Where am I?” Lestat mumbled, confounded by the strange nature of his transition.  
“Somewhere interesting” Alex said in an eerie echoing voice, as he materialized himself from the shadows.  
“We were in your library just moments ago. How did I get here?” Lestat queried with a cloud of bewilderment in his face.  
“Distance is but an illusion amidst the dappled shadows of time and space.” Alex replied, amused by the staggered expression on the vampires face.  
“Hmm...I didn’t caught any of that but an interesting trick, I must admit.” Lestat said, regaining much of his confidence and composure. “I wonder how he learned it.” He then thought to himself.  
“I didn’t learn it at all. It comes naturally to me…like other curious things.” Alex replied, flashing a boyish smile.   
“I should have known better and expect such cryptic answers from you.” Lestat shrugged nonchalantly.   
Alex just laughed, he then scooped a handful of soil from the ground with his open palm, molded it in to what looked like a fat worm with hollow eye sockets and a gaping maw.  
“What is that?” Lestat inquired with an appalled facial expression and in a voice laced with disgust as he beheld the aesthetically abhorrent sculpture.  
“It doesn’t have a name yet.” Alex retorted. A demonic grin then emanated from his face that foreboded and strangely aroused his companion. “Ah, yes….your name shall be Rlim Shaikorth”  
“The people inhabiting this house are vampires.” Lestat commented.  
“Apparently, save for one. He is…different” Alex answered, he then turned his gaze to Lestat. “Are you afraid?” He teased the vampire but before the latter could utter any protest he once again spoke. “Don’t be for we are absolutely imperceptible to the most of them. And though Naruto could subtly sense our presence he does not possess the power to even slightly harm an outer-god…and by extension nor can he harm you.”  
“Now what?” Lestat inquired in a somewhat exasperated and jaded tone.  
“Now we’ll give it life” Alex said in a voice that was like the soft luminescence of distant stars translated in to sound. The sculpture then floated away from his hand and was engulfed in an aura of fiery white energy and blinding iridescent light as it began to be animated and grew in to colossal size, with its body coiling around the Cullen’s house.  
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-  
(Cullen’s House)  
It was a fairly quiet night and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. Edward was in his room listening to some Debussy while the rest of the coven was watching Naruto and Jasper play chess downstairs.   
Naruto’s expression suddenly turned grave. “Someone’s watching us” he said in a stern tone.  
“No one is around, you’re just being paranoid” Rosalie scoffed.  
Carlisle was baffled, he too couldn’t sense anyone either but he however knew that the shinobi has a much more acute and superior senses compared to the rest of them.  
Suddenly the temperature lowered and a great coldness predominated. The strange cold was eldritch and preternatural in nature for even the vampires where affected by it. They began to weaken; their hands and ears ached as if their bones were being frozen solid as the utter chill smote sharply through their skin  
“What’s happening?” Jasper barely muttered with his numbing lips.  
Soon they noticed a light shining beyond their window, it was pale and frigid as fire of ice, as if a belated moon has now risen above the forest. Though they knew the moon was at that time a thin crescent, declining with the eventide.   
Naruto was then engulfed with a golden shroud of bright and warm Chakra that expanded like a shockwave, melting away the cold that sadistically tormented the rest of his family.   
“Whoever did this better run!” He exclaimed as rippled patterns emerged from his now purple and faintly glowing eyes, and a swirling rasengan formed in his right hand.  
-End

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there folks! I hope you enjoyed reading.  
> This is the first time I wrote a fanfic or anything else for that matter since highschool. I’ve been reading some fanfics and short stories for several months now and decided to take a shot and write one of my own. So basically I wanted to write a Naruto-Twilight crossover with some elements of C’thulhu mythos and other literary works to supplement the plot. I hope I wouldn’t disappoint you folks.  
> In this chapter Naruto woke up from what he thought to be just a few hours of being unconscious but realized that he has been in hibernation for 9,885 years. Also I thought I would expound on the events that occurred before he met the Cullens.  
> What really happened to the elemental nations and the shinobi world as a whole will be gradually revealed as the story develops and as we progress to the subsequent chapters.  
> Please tell me what you think and I also would highly welcome any suggestions to improve it.  
> See you next chapter  
> Cheers!


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